Gżejjer and Kevin MacNeil in Malta

Il-proġett "Gżejjer" u Kevin MacNeil

Gżejjer u Kevin MacNeil f'Malta • Diskussjoni Pubblika dwar l-Identità Kulturali

Workshops ta' Kitba Kreattiva • Gżejjer fil-festival Evenings on Campus 2001

Il-proġett "Gżejjer" • X’inhu l-Proġett Gżejjer u kif jidħlu l-ħrejjef • Adrian Grima dwar "Gżejjer"

The "Gżejjer" project

The "Gżejjer" project • Public Discussion on Identity • Gżejjer during Evenings on Campus 2001 • Workshops in Creative Writing 

Kevin MacNeil

Meeting Kevin MacNeil • Kevin MacNeil in Colombia

Interview on "Love, Zen and Writing" • Interview on Zen and the Art of Poetry

Publications

Love and Zen in the Outer Hebrides • Be Wise Be Otherwise • Wish I Was Here

A Little Borderless Village/Baile Beag Gun Chrìochan

Go to Kevin MacNeil's official website

Leading young Scottish writer Kevin MacNeil, who placed first in the 2000 edition of the prestigious Tivoli Prize for Young European Poets, will be in Malta between 26 and 31 July for a series of workshops in creative writing, for a public discussion on cultural identity and for a poetry reading.  MacNeil will take part in the literary performance “Gżejjer” organized by Inizjamed on 31 July as part of the summer cultural festival Evenings on Campus held at the University of Malta. Kevin MacNeil has been invited to Malta by Inizjamed in collaboration with the British Council.

MacNeil has extensive experience in leading writing workshops and has read his work at a great many venues in a number of countries. He is a founder member of the trip-hop poetry band Tomorrowscope. His work has been translated into 10 languages. MacNeil is currently completing a novel.

Cultural Identity - Public Discussion

On Friday 27 July at 8.00pm, Kevin MacNeil will take part in a public session on the promotion of cultural identity and he will talk about his initiatives in this field. He holds a Masters in Scottish Ethnology and writes both in English and Gaelic, the Scottish native language. This public debate will be held at the Bay Street Theatre in Paceville.  

Meeting Kevin MacNeil

Scottish writer Kevin MacNeil, an internationally published writer of poetry, prose and drama who placed first in the 2000 edition of the prestigious Tivoli Prize for Young European Poets, will be in Malta between 26 and 31 July 2001. Kevin MacNeil has been invited to Malta by Inizjamed in collaboration with the British Council.

In Malta, MacNeil will lead a series of four workshops in creative writing at the MITP in Valletta and he will take part in a public discussion on cultural identity at the Bay Street Theatre on Friday 27 July and a literary performance called “Gżejjer” (Islands) on 31 July at the University of Malta as part of the Evenings on Campus summer festival.

Poets and Rock Stars

Kevin MacNeil (in Gaelic Caoimhin MacNèill) was born on the Outer Hebridean island of Lewis (Scotland) and and writes in English and Gaelic. He was educated at the Nicolson Institute, University of Edinburgh and Sabhal Mòr Ostaig. He is the first person from Scotland to win the prestigious Tivoli Europa Giovani International Poetry Prize. He is currently living on the Isle of Skye, where he is employed as the inaugural Iain Crichton Smith Writing Fellow (writer in residence for the Highlands area of Scotland). He is a founder member of the trip-hop poetry band Tomorrowscope. His work has been translated into 10 languages.

Despite his young age, MacNeil is an experienced creative writing tutor and he has taught writing skills all over the UK to people of all backgrounds and ages. He is a performer of poetry and prose readings who has read in a number of countries and venues from a small bookshop to the Royal Festival Hall, from a tiny café to an Italian amphitheatre. He has also read at many festivals including the Edinburgh International Book Festival, the Clerkenwell Literary Festival, the Ledbury Poetry Festival, and the Brighton Do Tongues Festival. He has toured Ireland on the Cuairt Nam Bàrd poetry and music tour and has already read in the US, Canada, and Colombia this year.

In June MacNeil was invited to Colombia to take part in one of the world's most important poetry festivals. The two-week International Poetry Festival of Medellin, funded by the Colombian Promoteo organisation, was set up to give hope to a people whose lives are tainted by violence, drugs and corruption. MacNeil is the only Scottish poet invited to join the best poets from five continents spreading a message of hope.

"This is a huge honour for me," said MacNeil. "This festival shows just how poetry can make a difference to people's lives. Many tens of thousands of people attend the festival, which proves how meaningful it is to them. In a statement published before his departure for Colombia, MacNeil stated that he loves and was “looking forward to a memorable and life-enriching fortnight. It is very inspiring to me as a writer that poetry has the strength to bring people together in this way and generate a lasting optimism."

The festival came into being in 1991 and has hosted the finest poets from 67 countries, including Nobel Prize winning writers. According to the festival's director, Fernando Rendon: "The festival arose from a proposal to overthrow the wall of terror and fear imposed by the internal feuds of our country. Among other things, poetry is an act of profound communication. When this communication occurs in a community, very strong connections are possible: it's a ritual in which people's dreams and hopes are shared as well as their deepest and most pressing needs."

On his return to Scotland, MacNeil described his visit to Colombia as “unforgettable - an incredible experience.” People are “beautiful and friendly” and “poets are treated like rock stars in Colombia - on Sunday 10 June I read to 10,000 people in an amphitheatre. They shower you with presents after each reading e.g. flowers, rings, bracelets, etc.”

Defying the Poet Stereotype

In the fields of television and film, he wrote and presented a special feature about the arts in Scotland for the BBC television programme “Eorpa”; he designed, researched, shot, directed and edited a weekly strand on a children’s programme; he has researched, translated scripts (with suggested improvements), operated puppet and assistant floor managed on a pre-school children’s programme; and he has played the lead male role in a groundbreaking Gaelic short film. He has also appeared in an Italian film and a Gaelic drama and many times on television (BBC 2, STV, Grampian) either to promote his work or to discuss literature. He wrote and presented a radio programme about Gaelic poetry for Radio Scotland and was commissioned to write a story for BBC Radio Nan Gaidheal for the millennium, which was broadcast in December 1999.

Kevin MacNeil’s publications include his prize-winning book of poetry Love and Zen in the Outer Hebrides  (Canongate Books 1998); Wish I Was Here (ed. by Kevin MacNeil and Alec Finlay, Pocketbooks 2000), a book of poems by Scots of bicultural and/or bilingual background, like Gaels and Asian-Scots, with a large number of specially-commissioned photographs and a free c.d.; Baile Beag Gun Chrìochan/A Little Borderless Village (ed. by Kevin MacNeil, Highland Council 2000); Dalle Ebridi A Malta (main contributor, Sensibili alle Foglie 2000); Be Wise Be Otherwise (Canongate Books, Summer 2001), a book which MacNeil himself describes as "a semi-serious and semi-funny book of thoughts, ideas, suggestions and advice"; Singing for the Blue Men (forthcoming), a novel; and The Collected Stories of Iain Crichton Smith (ed. By Kevin MacNeil - Birlinn Publications, summer 2001).

“Responses to my work have been - so far, gratifyingly favourable!” writes MacNeil. “I had no idea what kind of reaction Love and Zen in the Outer Hebrides would get when it was first published. Obviously I hoped it would do well. It was not particularly widely reviewed, but it has sold very well - mainly due to word of mouth and I'm pleased about that. I find it amusing - but not surprising - that its greatest recognition has come from another country.  I'm quite sure that there are people who do not like my work. Gaels, for example, can be very traditional and there are some people who do not like Gaelic poetry unless it is in a traditional, singable form. But I want to add to the Highland literary tradition, not rely on it.”

 About his latest book, Be Wise Be Otherwise (Canongate, 2001), what MacNeil describes as a “very different book to Love and Zen in the Outer Hebrides, a semi-serious and semi-funny book of thoughts, ideas, suggestions and advice”, this is what Michael Palin, ex-Monty Python, has to say: "I don't know if it's his living in the Outer Hebrides that does it, but Kevin MacNeil's work gives me that good bracing feeling you get from exposure to the elements. It has a freshness that sharpens and invigorates. He can be crisp and cool, and funny and warm, but he always hits the spot."

Kevin MacNeil has also published articles on creative writing, literary criticism and current events in many diverse journals, newspapers and other publications.

More information about Kevin MacNeil and his works and about his public commitments in Malta are available from the Inizjamed website at www.inizjamed.cjb.net. One can also write to inizjamed@maltaforum.org.

Adrian Grima

July 2001

TheScotsman.co.uk

Scotland's National Newspaper online

Zen and the art of poetry
Jim Gilchrist

If anyone out there is still indulging in that somewhat pointless debate of a few years ago as to whether poetry - à la Lachlan Young - was the new rock’n’roll, Kevin MacNeil can confirm that it is; but you have to go to Colombia. The Lewis-born poet, currently based in Portree, Skye, as Iain Crichton Smith writing fellow with Highland Council, recently returned from the ten-day International Poetry Festival at Medellin, in a country more associated with drugs-fuelled shootings and kidnappings than international literary celebrations.

"They absolutely love poetry, so much so I was reading to audiences of 10,000," says MacNeil. "They treat poets like rock stars or film stars. They would give me flowers, bracelets, even the rings off their fingers; after one reading I was signing autographs for two hours." MacNeil can’t help pondering the irony of poetry receiving such acclaim in Colombia, with its unhappy reputation, while in Scotland, with "a literary tradition equal to any in the world", poetry and literature in general remain relatively under-valued.

Slightly less demonstrative behaviour no doubt greeted last week’s Inverness launch of his latest volume, Be Wise Be Otherwise, although with an enthusiastic cover puff by former Monty Python star and TV traveller Michael Palin, it is off to an auspicious start. MacNeil’s work, says Palin, "has a freshness that sharpens and invigorates".

MacNeil’s first book of poetry, Love and Zen in the Outer Hebrides, won the prestigous Tivoli Europa Giovani International Poetry Prize last year. It is an engaging collection of Gaelic and Hebrideanaccented English poems imbued with Zen-Buddhist and other eclectic influences. However, the 28-year-old poet delights in steering clear of the predictable, so those expecting a recognisable sequel may be disappointed; it was, he says, the very thought of "Son of Love and Zen" that prompted him to come up with something very different.

The compact Be Wise Be Otherwise he sums up as "a book of minimalist maxims".

His publisher at Canongate has described it enthusiastically as "the antithesis of The Little Book of Calm", and while it does indeed have something of those ubiquitous pocket books of New Age homilies, Be Wise veers gleefully from the slightly cosy "Encourage the use of mistletoe", through the wordplay of "Exaggerate your understatements" and "Will power is free, free will is power", to the subversive surrealist glee of "Start a stop-watch craze. Wear an egg-timer on your wrist".

Perhaps the terse one-liner "Don’t be a zen-ophobic" sums up the book, agrees MacNeil, a self-confessed lover of the sly pun. "That phrase contains both a pun and a very serious point."

"One of the reasons I wrote Be Wise was to encourage people to question our sense of identity and of what a book really is. Whereas I do like to think of myself as a calm person, I love the idea of subversively incorporating art, in whatever form, into people’s lives and that’s very much what this book is about."

So far as incorporating art into people’s lives is concerned, MacNeil can hardly stand accused of not doing his bit. While his writing residency with Highland Council has him covering a "patch" about the size of Belgium, extra-curricular activities include two separate collaborations with artists. One is with Doug Robertson, for sculptures to be installed on Skye incorporating his text, the other with Edinburgh-based Irish illustrator Brigid Collins, which may see them swapping roles, the artist writing, the writer creating visual art.

Back on the minimally printed page, and with that touch of zen, there is what MacNeil refers to as "the big haiku project" - he’s editing a collection of haikus by Highland writers. Meanwhile, MacNeil should feature on television in the autumn, having landed what he calls the "extreme and bizarre honour" of playing a young "Sorley-esque" figure in a drama-documentary about the late Sorley MacLean.

Then there’s his occasional band, Tomorrowscope, a sort of west-Highland bardic blast of everything ranging from blues to trip-hop: "You could look at us as a band with a singer who can’t sing and reads poetry instead," he chuckles. So perhaps poetry as the new rock’n’roll is not so far from the mark after all. "We’re open to offers. We’ve lots of ideas and are very pro-active, but at the same time we’re extremely lazy."

Lazy, however, is not a word one readily associates with MacNeil, who is also currently writing the introduction for a major collection, to be published by Birlin, of the short stories of Iain Crichton Smith, the acclaimed idiosyncratic and much-loved Lewis writer who died in 1998 and in whose name the Highland Council writing residency was established. Smith was a "crucial source of inspiration" for MacNeil: "His writing style didn’t influence me the way that oriental, European, even American writers did. It was the fact that this wonderfully gifted yet humble person should write some of the greatest literature, not only of 20th century Scotland, but in literature, full stop."

He describes himself as having been "indescribably proud" to have been offered the inaugural IC Smith writing fellowship. "Every time I do something in that capacity, whether workshops or more off-beat projects such as Be Wise or Tomorrowscope, I ask myself whether I’m doing something of which Iain might have felt even fractionally as proud as I am."

• Be Wise Be Otherwise is published by Canongate at £4.99.

Tuesday, 10 July 2001

Publications by Kevin MacNeil

The collection of poetry Love and Zen in the Outer Hebrides marks the arrival of a major new talent in Scottish poetry. Kevin MacNeil’s voice and vision, while rooted in the Hebridean islands, is open to a wide range of cultures, not only those of Scotland — from Gaeldom to urban Scotland — but to the wider European and American mind and, through his interest in Zen Buddhism, to Japanese and Chinese culture.

With astonishing freshness and versatility, MacNeil’s poetry creates powerful connections and new combinations — he has wit as well as feeling, a powerful sense of the past and the local while being resolutely turned towards the future and the cross-cultural.

The Quotes
"Not only talented and dedicated, he is also original . . . finding and making a literature in the clash and intersection of languages and cultures" Andrew Greig

"If you fancy a mixture of dancing logic, loving grace and cosmopoetic jazz, with a lot of Hebridean hootchie-kootchie, including Harris rain coming down in haikus and a skinkling of protogaelic Lewisian gneiss, not forgetting the ever-loving old calidoneein antisysithing, this guy’s got it." Kenneth White

"To meet one so in tune with his languages and with his subject-matter, so young, is a rare and special experience. At the beginning of his poetic career, Kevin MacNeil is already in the uplands of achievement." Aonghas MacNeacail

Wish I Was Here (Polygon Pocketbooks) by Kevin MacNeil (Editor), Alec Finlay (Editor) List Price: $11.95 Category: Literature & Fiction

Paperback - 208 pages Bk&Mini cd edition (January 15, 2001)
Columbia Univ Pr; ISBN: 0748662812; Dimensions (in inches): 0.66 x 6.70 x 5.00

Addressing themes of identity, culture, language and creativity in contemporary Scotland, this anthology uncovers the common experience of poets from diverse backgrounds and explores each poet's heritage in personal terms. Although emphasizing Gaelic, Shetlandic and Asian poets, this anthology presents a heterogeneous mix of poetic styles.

Iain Crichton Smith Bilingual Fellowship Officer

Brings Message of Hope to Colombia

Scottish poet Kevin MacNeil - Highland Council's, Cultural and Leisure Services's, Iain Crichton Smith Bilingual Fellowship Officer will travel to Colombia next week to take part in one of the world's most important poetry festivals.

The two-week International Poetry Festival of Medellin, funded by the Colombian Promoteo organisation, was set up to give hope to a people whose lives are tainted by violence, drugs and corruption.

Lewis-born Kevin MacNeil is the only Scottish poet invited to join the best poets from five continents spreading a message of hope.

Cllr Allan Beaton, Chairman of Highland Council's Gaelic Working Group said:

"The work of the Fellowship in conjunction with our Library Service, is giving residents within the Highlands a real opportunity to develop their creative writing skills in both Gaelic and English. We wish Kevin every success, as he will be an ambassador for the Highlands and for Scotland."

"This is a huge honour for me," said MacNeil, whose book Love and Zen in the Outer Hebrides last year won the prestigious Tivoli Europa Giovani International Poetry Prize.

"This festival shows just how poetry can make a difference to people's lives. Many tens of thousands of people attend the festival, which proves how meaningful it is to them. I love travelling and I'm looking forward to a memorable and life-enriching fortnight. It is very inspiring to me as a writer that poetry has the strength to bring people together in this way and generate a lasting optimism."

The festival came into being in 1991 and has hosted the finest poets from 67 countries, including Nobel Prize winning writers. The festival's director, Fernando Rendon, said: "The festival arose from a proposal to overthrow the wall of terror and fear imposed by the internal feuds of our country.

"Among other things, poetry is an act of profound communication. When this communication occurs in a community, very strong connections are possible: it's a ritual in which people's dreams and hopes are shared as well as their deepest and most pressing needs."

The festival, which is free, has come to mean a great deal to many Colombians. "It's an injection of life into a city of the almost-dead," said Luis Angel Ocampo Cardona (42), a prisoner of bellavista state penitentiary.

Adriana Lopez Velez (26), a systems technician, said: "It's the cultural event I most look forward to in the year; it makes me forget that countries have frontiers."

This event marks the continuation of a very busy year for MacNeil, whose summer diary also includes the launch of his latest book Be Wise Be Otherwise and a series of writing workshops and readings in Malta.

Gżejjer u Kevin MacNeil f'Malta

L-awtur Skoċċiż Kevin MacNeil rebbieħ ta’ l-ewwel post fil-Premju Tivoli Europa Giovani u meqjus bħala wieħed mill-aħjar awturi żgħażagħ fl-Ewropa llum, se jkun Malta bejn is-26 u l-31 ta’ Lulju li ġej biex jagħti sensiela ta’ erba' workshops u jieħu sehem fir-rappreżentazzjoni letterarja “Gżejjer” imtellgħa minn Inizjamed fil-31 ta’ Lulju bħala parti mill-festival Evenings on Campus fl-Università ta’ Malta. Kevin MacNeil se jinġieb mill-organizzazzjoni kulturali mediterranja Inizjamed bil-għajnuna tal-British Council.

Kevin MacNeil huwa impjegat bħala awtur mill-Gvern Skoċċiż għaż-żona tal-Higħlands u ntgħażel bħala l-ewwel Iain Crichton Smith Writing Fellow (“writer in residence”). Huwa membru fundatur tat-“trip-hop poetry band” Tomorrowscope u f’Mejju kien qiegħed jaħdem il-parti prinċipali f’film dwar poeta magħruf Skoċċiż.

Laqgħa Pubblika - L-Identità Kulturali

Il-Ġimgħa 27 ta’ Lulju, fit-8.00pm, Kevin MacNeil se jieħu sehem f’laqgħa pubblika dwar il-promozzjoni ta’ l-identità kulturali u se jitkellem ukoll dwar l-inizjattivi tiegħu f’dan il-qasam. Hu għandu MA fl-Etnoloġija Skoċċiża u jikteb kemm bl–Ingliż kif ukoll bil-Galliku, il-lingwa indiġena ta’ l-Iskoċċiżi. Il-taħdita pubblika b’diskussjoni wara se ssir fit-teatru ta’ Bay Street, Paceville. Dħul b'xejn.

Evenings on Campus - “Gżejjer”

It-Tlieta, 31 ta’ Lulju, fid-8.45pm, Kevin MacNeil se jkun il-mistieden ewlieni f’rappreżentazzjoni letterarja mnebbħa mit-tema tal-“Gżejjer”. Se jipparteċipaw ukoll għadd ta' awturi Maltin, uħud stabbiliti u oħrajn mhumiex. Fil-lejla, li se titfassal waqt il-workshops li se jsiru fil-ġranet ta’ qabel, se jieħdu sehem l-atturi Marcelle Teuma u Ray Calleja, il-perkussjonista Renzo Spiteri, is-sassofonista li studja Franza Joseph Vella, il-kantawtur Walter Micallef u l-kantanta Nadine Axisa. Dħul b'xejn.

Il-Workshops

L-erba' workshops ta’ kitba kreattiva li jdumu bejn sagħtejn u sagħtejn u nofs se jsiru kuljum filgħodu bejn il-Ġimgħa 27 ta’ Lulju  u t-Tnejn 30 ta’ Lulju; is-sessjonijiet jibdew fid-9.30am. Dawn mhumiex se jkunu taħditiet jew diskussjonijiet iżda sessjonijiet li fihom l-awturi preżenti, mhux iżjed minn 15, ikunu jistgħu jitħarrġu fil-kitba u jiddiskutu x-xogħol tagħhom ma’ l-awtur Skoċċiż.

MacNeil għandu ħafna esperjenza fit-tmexxija ta’ workshops bħal dawn u qara l-poeżiji tiegħu fil-pubbliku f’għadd ta’ okkażjonijiet u f’pajjiżi differenti. Qabel ma jiġi Malta se jkun il-Kolombja fejn stidnuh jieħu sehem fil-ħdax-il edizzjoni tal-Festival Internazzjonali tal-Poeżija ta' Medellin.

Pubblikazzjonijiet

Fost il-pubblikazzjonijiet ta’ Kevin MacNeil, hemm il-poeżiji u l-poeproża Love and Zen in the Outer Hebrides (Canongate, 1998) u l-ktieb ta’ aforiżmi Be Wise Be Otherwise (Canongate, 2001). Ġabar ukoll għadd ta’ kitbiet mill-Highlands ta’ l-Iskozja fi ktieb li jismu A Little Borderless Village/Baile Beag Gun Chrìochan.

MacNeil kiteb ukoll rumanz li għandu jiġi ppubblikat fil-ġejjieni qarib u kien editur u scriptwriter ta’ numru ta’ xogħlijiet oħra. Ix-xogħlijiet tiegħu ġew tradotti f’għaxar lingwi differenti u fil-lejla “Gżejjer” għandhom jidhru għall-ewwel darba għadd ta’ kitbiet tiegħu maqlubin għall-Malti.

Kevin MacNeil twieled fuq il-gżira ta’ Lewis fl-Outer Hebrides ta’ l-Iskozja u llum jgħix fuq il-gżira ta’ Skye.

Kevin MacNeil inġieb Malta minn Inizjamed bil-kollaborazzjoni ta’ The British Council.

Adrian Grima

18.7.01

Literature and Music at the University

On Tuesday 31 July, at 8.45pm, the acclaimed Scottish writer Kevin MacNeil will be reading his poetry at a literary performance called “Gżejjer” (Islands) to be held near the main entrance to the University of Malta (M. A. Vassalli Conference Centre) as part of the summer festival Evenings on Campus organized by Koperattiva Kulturali Universitarja. The evening will also include readings of unpublished poems and short stories by twenty established and lesser-known local writers. Kevin MacNeil is being brought to Malta by Inizjamed in collaboration with The British Council. Entrance is free.

The works will be read by leading actors Ray Calleja and Marcelle Teuma. The other performers are well-known percussionist Renzo Spiteri, saxophonist Joseph Vella, who studied classical sax for five years in Lyons and Poitiers, singer songwriter Walter Micallef, and expressive young singer Nadine Axisa.

Kevin MacNeil is considered one of Europe’s best young writers. In 2000 his book of poetry, Love and Zen in the Outer Hebrides (Canongate, 1998) won first prize in the prestigious Premio Tivoli Europa Giovani for young European poets. A few weeks ago, the leading Edinburgh publishing house Canongate published his second book of poetry, Be Wise Be Otherwise, which MacNeil himself has described as "a semi-serious and semi-funny book of thoughts, ideas, suggestions and advice”. 

MacNeil has edited a number of important publications, including Wish I Was Here, a book of poems by Scots of bicultural and/or bilingual background, (Pocketbooks, 2000) with Alec Finlay, and A Little Borderless Village/Baile Beag Gun Chrìochan (The Highland Council, 2000), a collection of works in English and Scots Gaelic from the Highlands.

He has also worked as a TV cameraman and in April he played the leading part in a film about a famous Scottish poet. In May he was invited to take part in one of the most important international poetry festivals, that held in the Colombian city of Medellin. In his words, his visit to Colombia was “unforgettable - an incredible experience.” Poets are “treated like rock stars in Colombia - on Sunday 10 June I read to 10,000 people in an amphitheatre.”

This is the first time Inizjamed and The British Council are working together. According to country director Ronnie Micallef, the British Council “seeks to represent Britain in its entirety; it is not ‘London-based’, and that is why the Council has given a young voluntary organization like Inizjamed its full support to bring Scottish writer-in-residence Kevin MacNeil over to Malta.” The British Council does not organise “exclusively 'showcase activities'. We sincerely prefer to collaborate and support organisations and events – such as this one – which would otherwise struggle unduly to get done.”

The Evenings on Campus literary activity coordinated by Inizjamed with the support of KKU has become an integral part of the local cultural calendar. More than 120 people attend the event, not only to enjoy the good music and literature but also to keep abreast of what is being written by Malta’s leading and budding writers alike.

The Maltese writers taking part this year are David Agius Muscat, Clare Azzopardi, Stanley Borg, Norbert Bugeja, Kenneth Busuttil, Stephen Cachia, Bernard Cauchi, Karl Alan Fenech, Victor Fenech, William Grech, Maria Grech Ganado, Adrian Grima, Henry Holland, Simone Inguanez, Immanuel Mifsud, Leslie Vassallo, Karsten Xuereb, Trevor Żahra, Michael Zammit, and Jesmond Zerafa.

More information about Kevin MacNeil, and about the performers taking part in the University event are available on Inizjamed’s website at www.inizjamed.cjb.net. The British Council’s website is at www.britishcouncil.org/malta

Adrian Grima

Coordinator, Inizjamed

19.7.01

Gżejjer is an innovative year-long literary project with the general aim of giving young Maltese writers the "technical" support to experiment with and improve their writing. Gżejjer (or Islands) is the main theme of the project, a kind of point of reference for the writers and their work. In concrete terms, the project aims to create the conditions for the participating writers to produce high quality works about "Islands", however and wherever they may perceive them, after workshops and feedback sessions with local and foreign writers.

"Ħrejjef" - Inspired by Traditional Fables

As part of the Gżejjer creative writing project, a group of young writers associated with Inizjamed have been working with the texts of traditional Maltese fables and legends collected by Manwel Magri at the beginning of the 20th century to produce new works of literature that give due credit to the memory of Maltese and Mediterranean culture.

These writers feel that their interaction with these texts based on the local oral tradition can give depth to their own experience of their culture and to the works they write that are inspired by the fables and legends.

In order to better understand these old texts which are full of life, they have met with leading writer Trevor Żahra (author of a highly-successful novel inspired by one of these fables, Is-Seba’ Tronġiet Mewwija) and with Ġorġ Mifsud-Chircop, an expert in the field who published an annotated edition of Manwel Magri's Ħrejjef Missirijietna.

One of the writers involved in the Gżejjer project, Stanley Borg, is working on an edited collection of the writings inspired by these traditional fables. This edition will include notes by the authors explaining the "Ħrejjef" process that lead to their final work and comments about their experience within the project.

Kevin MacNeil

One of the highlights of the project will be the active participation of young Scottish writer in residence, Kevin MacNeil, who won the prestigious Premio Tivoli Europa Giovani (the Tivoli Prize for Young European Poets) in 2000 in which Maltese poet Adrian Grima placed second. The prize is awarded for a book of poetry, not for a poem. Kevin MacNeil participated wtih his book Love and Zen in the Outer Hebrides published by Edinburgh's Canongate in 1998.

Kevin MacNeil has accepted to take part in the 2001 edition of the University summer festival Evenings on Campus with Inizjamed. He is being brought to Malta in collaboration with the British Council. He will be in Malta for a week between 26 July and 1 August. During his stay he will present his poetry during an evening of literature and music held at the University together with the young Maltese writers involved in the Gżejjer project and other more established writers, but he will also be holding a number of workshops and literary encounters with the Maltese group before the EOC event. Despite his young age, Kevin MacNeil has been doing workshops and reading poetry through the UK for a number of years and he has been trained to give workshops.  

The Organization

The Gżejjer project is being organized by Inizjamed, a non-profit, voluntary Mediterranean cultural organization founded in 1998 that collaborates with a number of cultural organizations in Europe and the Mediterranean and is a member of the international organization that organizes the Biennial for Young Artists from Europe and the Mediterranean.

Inizjamed has taken part in the Rome 1999 edition of this Biennial and will be taking part in the Sarajevo 2001 edition. Inizjamed has also taken part in the first edition of the Big Torino biennial exhibition (2000), in a meeting on social exclusion organized by the Council of Europe in Switzerland, and it is a partner in two projects (proposed by Italian and Finnish organizations) which have received funding from the EU.

In 2000, Inizjamed was nominated for the prize National Recognition - Youth in Society awarded by the Government of Malta. In 2001 it placed second in the same prize.

The Gżejjer project itself will be run by the literary group within Inizjamed which has organized a number of highly successful literary events in the past two and a half years.

On Friday 27 July at 8.00pm, at the Bay Street Theatre in Paceville, acclaimed Scottish writer Kevin MacNeil will be the main speaker at a public discussion in English on cultural identity and the role of literature and the writer. This event is being organized by Inizjamed in collaboration with the British Council. Entrance is free.

At the Bay Street Theatre Kevin MacNeil will be talking about his initiatives in this field, including the publication of a volume of poetry he edited with Alec Finlay called Wish I Was Here (Pocketbooks, 2000) which will be available during the event. He holds a Masters in Scottish Ethnology and writes both in English and Scots Gaelic. He was born on the Isle of Lewis and lives on the Isle of Skye in the Outer Hebrides. A video of one of Kevin MacNeil’s television interviews will also be shown during the evening.

“Global culture,” says MacNeil in an exclusive interview with Adrian Grima, “comprises a vast multi-coloured spectrum: the thought that it should be eclipsed by a single shadowy power is heartbreaking. We should celebrate unity-in-diversity, not unity-in-conformity. I see myself as respecting - and learning from - other cultures, while simultaneously attempting to do my best to preserve and nurture my own culture. If a single culture is represented by a hand, then cultures should hold hands with one another, instead of arm wrestling.”

The programme also includes a presentation on the promotion of cultural diversity by Adrian Grima, coordinator of Inizjamed and the presentation of a booklet with contributions by both speakers. Adrian Grima lectures in Maltese literature at the University of Malta and has presented papers on literature, metaphor and the Mediterranean at conferences in Malta, Italy, and the United States. His paper “(Re-)Visiting the Mediterranean Repertoire: Notes on so-called “Mediterranean themes” in Post-Colonial Fiction in Maltese” has just been published in Paris in the journal Le Jardin D’Essai. Adrian Grima’s talk at the Bay Street event, which will be published in Maltese, will draw from works on the subject of cultural identity and cultural diversity by Amin Maalouf, Julia Kristeva, Colin Hines and Costanza Ferrini, and from the Mediterranean tales of Ġaħan.

A leading player in the initiative to bring Kevin MacNeil to Malta has been The British Council, the United Kingdom's international organisation for educational and cultural relations. Its aim is to create enduring partnerships between British and other cultures by creating opportunities to connect with the latest skills, ideas and experience from the UK.

According to country director Ronnie Micallef, the British Council “seeks to represent Britain in its entirety; it is not ‘London-based’, and that is why the Council has given a young voluntary organization like Inizjamed its full support to bring Scottish writer-in-residence Kevin MacNeil over to Malta.” The British Council does not organise “exclusively 'showcase activities'. We sincerely prefer to collaborate and support organisations and events – such as this one – which would otherwise struggle unduly to get done.”

This is not the first time Kevin MacNeil has collaborated with The British Council. In August 2000, for example, Kevin MacNeil was one of the Scottish writers invited to take part in “The Bookcase: Showcase of Contemporary Scottish Writing, Books and Literature”, an event organized by The British Council in partnership with the Edinburgh Book Festival and the Scottish Arts Council.

After the presentations by Kevin MacNeil and Adrian Grima, the audience will be encouraged to ask questions and comment on the points raised. Refreshments will be served after the discussion.

More information about Kevin MacNeil and his works, and about all activities to be held during his stay in Malta between 27-31 July are available on Inizjamed’s website at http://www.inizjamed.cjb.net. Inizjamed can be contacted at inizjamed@maltaforum.org. The website of the Malta branch of the British Council is at http://www.britishcouncil.org/malta/

Adrian Grima

Coordinator, Inizjamed

19.7.01

Nhar it-Tlieta, 31 ta’ Lulju, fid-8.45pm, ħdejn id-daħla l-ġdida ta’ l-Università ta’ Malta (Ċentru M. A. Vassalli), l-awtur magħruf Skoċċiż Kevin MacNeil se jkun il-mistieden ewlieni f’rappreżentazzjoni letterarja mnebbħa mit-tema “Gżejjer” u li fiha se jiġu ppreżentati għadd ta’ poeżiji u stejjer li qatt ma ġew ippubblikati qabel ta’ kittieba Maltin. Din l-attività hija parti mill-programm tal-festival Evenings on Campus organizzat mill-Koperattiva Kulturali Universitarja. MacNeil qed jinġieb Malta minn Inizjamed bil-kollaborazzjoni tal-British Council. Id-dħul huwa b’xejn.

Fl-ewwel parti ta’ din ir-rappreżentazzjoni letterarja, l-atturi Ray Calleja u Marcelle Teuma se jaqraw xogħlijiet ta’ għoxrin awtur u awtriċi Maltija, uħud stabbiliti u oħrajn mhumiex. Se jieħdu sehem ukoll il-perkussjonista Renzo Spiteri, is-sassofonista Joseph Vella, il-kantawtur Walter Micallef u l-kantanta Nadine Axisa. Joseph Vella għamel ħames snin jistudja s-saxophone klassiku f’Lyons u Poitiers ġewwa Franza u din se tkun l-ewwel darba li se jieħu sehem fl-Evenings on Campus u f’attività ta’ Inizjamed.

Kevin MacNeil huwa meqjus bħala wieħed mill-aqwa kittieba żgħażagħ fl-Ewropa u fis-sena 2000 rebaħ l-ewwel post fil-konkors prestiġjuż Premio Tivoli Europa Giovani bil-ktieb Love and Zen in the Outer Hebrides (Canongate 1998). Ftit ġimgħat ilu ġie ppubblikat it-tieni ktieb ta’ poeżija tiegħu mill-istess dar tal-pubblikazzjonijiet prestiġjuża f’Edinburgh (Be Wise Be Otherwise).

Kevin MacNeil editja għadd ta’ pubblikazzjonijiet importanti, fosthom il-ġabra ta’ poeżiji multi-etniċi Wish I Was Here (Pocketbooks, 2000) u A Little Borderless Village/Baile Beag Gun Chrìochan (The Highland Council, 2000), ġabra ta’ kitbiet bl-Ingliż u bil-Galliku mill-Highlands ta’ l-Iskozja.

Minbarra l-kitba, MacNeil ħadem ukoll fil-qasam tat-televiżjoni bħala cameraman u bħala attur protagonista f’film dwar poeta magħruf Skoċċiż. F’Mejju li għadda kien wieħed mill-poeti mistednin biex jieħu sehem fil-festival internazzjonali importanti tal-poeżija ta’ Medellin ġewwa l-Kolombja, festival li jidher li ħalla impatt qawwi fuq ir-relazzjoni tiegħu bħala kittieb ma’ l-udjenza tiegħu.

Din hija l-ewwel darba li Inizjamed u l-British Council qed jaħdmu flimkien. Il-British Council hija l-organizzazzjoni internazzjonali li tieħu ħsieb ir-relazzjonijiet edukattivi u kulturali tar-Renju Unit. Id-direttur tal-fergħa Maltija, Ronnie Micallef, jemmen li żewġ prinċipji ewlenin tal-British Council huma li tikkollabora ma’ u tagħti l-appoġġ tagħha lil inizjattivi kulturali bħal din. Skond Adrian Grima, koordinatur ta’ Inizjamed, ma kienx ikun possibbli li Kevin MacNeil jinġieb Malta mingħajr l-appoġġ sħiħ tal-British Council.

L-attività letterarja ta’ l-Evenings on Campus ikkoordinata minn Inizjamed illum saret parti integrali mill-kalendarju letterarju Malti. Fl-aħħar snin dejjem attendew aktar minn 120 ruħ u dan jixhed il-popolarità tagħha. Ħafna nies jattendu mhux biss biex jisimgħu mużika u letteratura tajba imma anki biex iżommu ruħhom aġġornati ma’ dak li qed jinkiteb f’Malta llum, kemm mill-awturi stabbiliti kif ukoll mill-awturi l-ġodda.

L-awturi Maltin li se jieħdu sehem din is-sena huma: David Agius Muscat, Clare Azzopardi, Stanley Borg, Norbert Bugeja, Kenneth Busuttil, Stephen Cachia, Bernard Cauchi, Karl Alan Fenech, Victor Fenech, William Grech, Maria Grech Ganado, Adrian Grima, Henry Holland, Simone Inguanez, Immanuel Mifsud, Leslie Vassallo, Karsten Xuereb, Trevor Żahra, Michael Zammit, u Jesmond Zerafa.

Għal aktar tagħrif dwar Kevin MacNeil, ix-xogħlijiet tiegħu u ż-żjara tiegħu f’Malta ara l-website ta’ Inizjamed li qiegħda http://www.inizjamed.cjb.net. L-indirizz tal-website tal-British Council f’Malta huwa http://www.britishcouncil.org/malta

Adrian Grima

It-18 ta’ Lulju, 2001

Nhar il-Ġimgħa 27 ta’ Lulju, 2001, fit-8.00pm, fit-Teatru ta’ Bay Street ġewwa Paceville, l-awtur ewlieni Skoċċiż Kevin MacNeil se jkun il-kelliem ewlieni waqt diskussjoni pubblika bl-Ingliż dwar l-identità u d-diversità kulturali. Din l-attività qed tittella’ minn Inizjamed bil-kollaborazzjoni tal-British Council. Id-dħul huwa b’xejn.

Kevin MacNeil se jitkellem dwar il-ħtieġa li l-gżejjer iħarsu d-diversità kulturali tagħhom filwaqt li jħarsu ‘l quddiem u jfasslu l-ġejjieni tagħhom. Se jitkellem ukoll dwar għadd ta’ inizjattivi konkreti, fosthom dawk li hu involut fihom hu, li qegħdin jittieħdu bil-għan li l-kulturi ż-żgħar jissaħħu iżda fl-istess ħin jiġġeddu.

MacNeil twieled fuq il-gżira Skoċċiża ta’ Lewis u jgħix fuq il-gżira ta’ Skye. Hu jikteb uħud mix-xogħlijiet tiegħu bil-lingwa indiġena ta’ l-Iskoċċiżi u jaħdem ħafna fil-qasam tal-promozzjoni tal-kultura u l-ilsien nattiv tiegħu. Barra minn hekk, għandu M.A. fl-Etnoloġija Skoċċiża. Waqt din il-laqgħa pubblika għandu jintwera video ta’ Kevin MacNeil marbut mat-tema ta’ l-identità kulturali.

F’intervista esklussiva li ta lil Adrian Grima għal din l-attività, MacNeil jgħid hekk: “Fil-kultura globali hemm firxa sħiħa ta’ kuluri: il-ħsieb biss li din id-diversità kollha tista’ tinbela’ minn potenza ‘oskura’ waħda jagħmillek id-dwejjaq. Aħna għandna niċċelebraw l-għaqda msejsa fuq id-diversità mhux fuq il-konformità. Jien nemmen li għandi nirrispetta u nitgħallem minn kulturi oħra, u fl-istess ħin nipprova nħares u nrawwem il-kultura tiegħi. Jekk tħares lejn kultura waħda bħala id, il-ġejjieni li nixtieq nara jien huwa ġejjieni li fih il-kulturi jżommu idejn xulxin, mhux jissaraw kontra xulxin.”

Kelliem ieħor se jkun Adrian Grima, il-koordinatur ta’ Inizjamed, li jgħallem il-letteratura Maltija fl-Università ta’ Malta u tkellem f’għadd ta’ konferenzi f’Malta u barra minn Malta dwar il-kultura Maltija u l-Mediterran. It-taħdita ta’ Adrian Grima se tkun imnebbħa mill-figura interessanti ta’ Ġaħan u mill-kitbiet ta’ ħassieba bħall-awtur Lebaniż li jgħix Franza, Amin Maalouf; l-ambjentalista u l-ekonomista Colin Hines; u l-istudjuża tal-letteratura tal-Mediterran Costanza Ferrini li intervistat għadd ta’ kittieba Mediterranji ewlenin dwar il-kitbiet u l-fehmiet tagħhom. Dakinhar ta’ l-attività se tiġi ppubblikata intervista esklussiva ma’ Kevin MacNeil bl-Ingliż u t-taħdita ta’ Adrian Grima bil-Malti.

Il-British Council għandu sehem ewlieni fil-miġja ta’ Kevin MacNeil f’Malta. Skond Ronnie Micallef, direttur tal-British Council f’Malta, din l-attività hija importanti għax fost l-oħrajn “tagħti stampa aktar wiesgħa tad-diversità kulturali li teżisti fir-Renju Unit. Il-British Council temmen f’din id-diversità u tħabrek biex tippromwoviha. Temmen ukoll li għandha taħdem ma’ u tagħti appoġġ sħiħ lil organizzazzjonijiet volontarji bħal Inizjamed li mingħajr l-għajnuna ta’ organizzazzjoni bħall-British Council ma jkunux jistgħu jidħlu għal proġetti ta’ kwalità li jitolbu ħafna riżorsi.” Fl-aħħar mill-aħħar, l-għan tal-British Council huwa li jibni kollaborazzjoni bejn il-kultura Brittanika u kulturi oħra. Dan tagħmlu billi toħloq opportunitajiet biex kulturi differenti jiltaqgħu ma’ l-aħħar żviluppi fl-ideat, fil-ħiliet u fl-esperjenza ħerġin mir-Renju Unit.

Din mhix l-ewwel darba li Kevin MacNeil qiegħed jikkollabora mal-British Council. F’Awwissu ta’ l-2000, kien wieħed mill-mistieden f’attività li saret bi sħab bejn il-British Council, il-Festival tal-Ktieb ta’ Edinburgh u l-Kunsill Skoċċiż għall-Arti. L-attività laqqgħet għadd ta’ kittieba Skoċċiża mal-pubbliku u kien jisimha, “The Bookcase: Showcase of Contemporary Scottish Writing, Books and Literature”.

Wara t-taħditiet taż-żewġ kelliema, l-udjenza se jkun hemm ħin għall-mistoqsijiet u l-kummenti (kemm bil-Malti u kemm bl-Ingliż) ta’ l-udjenza preżenti. L-attività tagħlaq bi ftit ikel u xorb għal kulħadd.

Għal aktar tagħrif dwar Kevin MacNeil u dwar l-attivitajiet li se jieħu sehem fihom f’Malta bejn is-27 u l-31 ta’ Lulju ara l-website ta’ Inizjamed f’dan l-indirizz: http://www.inizjamed.cjb.net; l-email huwa inizjamed@email.com. Il-website tal-fergħa ta’ Malta tal-British Council qiegħda f’dan l-indirizz: http://www.britishcouncil.org/malta/   

Adrian Grima

Koordinatur, Inizjamed

Il-proġett Gżejjer hu essenzjalment tiftixa ta’ identità, fejn il-medium ewlieni hu l-kitba.

Tajjeb f’dan il-punt li wieħed jara il-kif u l-għala. Din it-tiftixa qed issir possibbli permezz tal-grupp letterarju li jaħdem fi ħdan Inizjamed. Din ta’ l-aħħar hi NGO bbażata f’Malta, immotivata mill-għan li titfa’ l-kultura Maltija f’kuntest: dak Mediterranju. Ħafna drabi l-perċezzjoni tal-kultura f’din l-għaqda hija waħda minn isfel għal fuq, fejn il-kultura mhix esklussività tal-klassijiet għolja, imma hi l-ħobż li l-Maltin kollha jaħmu u jieklu kuljum. Għalhekk din id-djalettika hi wkoll konfront bejn dak li hu aċċettat u dak li hu mwarrab.

Fid-dawl ta’ dan kollu, individwi fi ħdan Inizjamed qablu li minħabba li l-kitba hija mezz qawwi u effettiv ta’ espressjoni - kemm politika, kif ukoll letterarja, hemm bżonn li huma jitħarrġu bħala kittieba. Fil-konkret dan qed jimxi fuq żewġ binarji paralleli:

1. Laqgħat ma’ diversi kittieba stabbiliti, li indipendentement mis-suġġett li qegħdin jitħaddtu dwaru, qed jagħtu l-esperjenza tagħhom ta’ kittieba. Dan il-proċess hu maħsub li jiġi konkluż minn Kevin MacNeil, awtur professjonist Skoċċiż, involut fil-qasam tal-kitba kreattiva.

2. Linja politika li tistħarreġ u taġixxi. Fost l-argumenti li qed nistħarrġu hemm ir-rwol/i tal-ħrejjef fil-kunċett ħolisitku ta’ Gżejjer (it-test bħala narrattiva ta’ ġustizzja soċjali, il-viżjoni femminista, l-għeruq ta’ identità, eċċ). L-azzjoni bħalissa qed tissarraf anki fl-organizzazzjoni ta’ korsijiet ta’ kitba kreattiva għat-tfal u għal min irid jikteb għat-tfal, għax huma forza ewlenija biex niċċalinġjaw l-istatus quo. Hemm ukoll maħsubin workshops għal kittieba nisa.

Bernard Cauchi

11.2.01

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