The University of Malta’s Department of Maltese is organising a public seminar on the theme ‘Sette Giugno in Maltese literature’ on Tuesday from 6 to 8.30pm in the Faculty of Arts library on the Msida campus.

Adrian Grima

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the June 1919 uprising, in which four Maltese protesters were killed and many others wounded. These tragic events left their mark on Maltese literature, especially on the work of a group of Reformist writers, including Ġużè Orlando, who wrote an eyewitness account of the events, Ġużè Bonnici, Juann Mamo, Ġużè Ellul Mercer, and Ġużè Chetcuti.

The event will be opened by Faculty dean Prof. Dominic Fenech and chaired by Prof. Bernard Micallef. The speakers are Prof. Oliver Friggieri, Prof. Adrian Grima, Maria Simiana and Mark Vella.

Prof. Friggieri will provide an overview of the political and cultural context of the Sette Giugno events, while Prof. Grima will talk about Juann Mamo and Ċensu Bugeja’s writings about the uprising. Simiana will focus on the writings of Ġużè Orlando, Ġużè Bonnici and Ġużè Chetcuti.

Maria Simiana

Vella will take his lead from the only reference to the Sette Giugno events in the literary work of Ġużè Ellul Mercer to raise a number of questions and issues about the relationship between history, politics and literature. In his eyewitness account, Ġużè Orlando says he wanted to make sure that in the future, no “pharisees” would try to impose a skewed interpretation of a revolt that was motivated by nothing but patriotic ideals.

During the seminar two books about the Sette Giugno will be on sale at a special price: Ir-Rivoluzzjoni Maltija by Michael A. Sant (SKS 2009) and the second, revised edition of X’Kien Ġara Sew fis-Sette Giugno by Paul Bartolo (KKM 2019).

The event will be held on Tuesday from 6pm to 8.30pm in the Faculty of Arts Library on the second floor of the Old Humanities Building at the University’s Msida campus. The public is invited to attend. For more information visit the Department of Maltese Facebook page.