ANTON F. ATTARD

Gozitan writer, translator, folklorist and poet.

Anton Sammut twieled fl-ewwel ta’ Settembru tal-1970; ħassieb, awtur, kif ukoll artist. Sammut huwa wkoll studjuż tal-filosofija tal-Punent kif ukoll dik tal-Orjent, tal-psikoloġija, u tar-reliġjonijiet komparattivi.

Fost xi wħud mill-kotba tiegħu nsibu r-rumanz filosofiku Alte Vestiga (2008), li eventwalment ġie tradott bl-Ingliż bl-isem ta’ Memories of Recurrent Echoes (2009), il-kotba ta’ studju u riċerka, In-Naħa l-Oħra tal-Istorja Ġudeo-Kristjana (2011) tradott ukoll bl-Ingliż (The Other Side of the Judeo-Christian History, 2012) u Il-Filosofija tal-Ispiritwalità Kożmika (2013), li wkoll ġie tradott bl-isem ta’ The Philosophy of Cosmic Spirituality (2014).

MIN KIEN ARTURO CARUANA?

Jingħad li skont reġistru tad-dfin fiċ-Ċimiterju Santa Marija Addolorata u fl-att tal-mewt tar-Reġistru pubbliku, Arturo Caruana twieled fil-Kajr, l-Eġittu, waqt li fl-att taż-żwieġ tiegħu u fl-att tat-twelid tat-tfal – twieled f’Lixandra. Mid-daħla tal-ktieb tiegħu L-Ilsiera, jgħid li twieled fl-1877 waqt li awturi li tkellmu fuqu, jagħtu dati differenti. Iżda kollox jindika li twieled f’Lixandra.

Twieled Birkirkara fid-29 ta’ Mejju 1944. Studja l-Liċeo u f’St Michael’s College of Education. Għal 33 sena għallem fi skejjel Primarji differenti u fl-1995 laħaq Assistent Kap ta’ Skola fit-Taqsima tal-Edukazzjoni minn fejn irtira bl-età fl-2005. 

Huwa membru attiv fis-Soċjetà tad-Duttrina Nisranija (M.U.S.E.U.M.) u msieħeb fl-Għaqda Poeti Maltin, fl-Għaqda tal-Malti (Università) u fl-Akkademja tal-Malti.

Twieled fit-3 ta’ Mejju, 1951, fil-Ħamrun. It-tieni minn 13-il wild. Ta’ 11-il xahar ittieħed minn nannietu, biex jitrabba magħhom fil-Blata l-Bajda. Dam hemm sa ma kellu 16-il sena.

Attenda l-iskejjel tas-Sorijiet tal-Qalb ta’ Ġesù; dik primarja ta’ wara l-Għassa u l-iskola l-kbira, ilkoll fil-Ħamrun. Ta’ 13-il sena għadda għal-Liċeo, iżda peress li missieru kien jgħallem fl-Iskola Teknika ta’ Raħal Ġdid, bidel l-iskola u beda jattendi hemm.

Dr Charles Daniel Saliba
B.Ed. (Hons.) Maltese, Dip. Arabic (Distinction), BA Arabic (Summa Cum Laude), MA Arabic Language and Linguistics, MA in Mediterranean Historical Studies, PhD (Sheffield University) UK, specialising in teaching Maltese as a foreign language (MFL). 

Charles Daniel Saliba is a full-time academic serving in the grade of Senior Lecturer II at the Malta College of Arts, Science & Technology, Gozo Campus, where he lectures in Maltese language key skills courses and on the pedagogy of Maltese related to the primary and secondary sector. He is also a dissertation supervisor in the BA courses and MA by research course, with regards to dissertations related to the Maltese language.

Charles Flores twieled il-Kalkara f’Marzu tal-1948. Studja f’St Albert the Great College, De la Salle College u l-Università ta’ Malta minn fejn iggradwa fit-Teoloġija. Fis-snin sittin kien wieħed mill-kofundaturi u l-ewwel uffiċjal għar-relazzjonijiet pubbliċi tal-Moviment Qawmien Letterarju, membru tal-Akkademja tal-Malti, kittieb ta’ bosta xogħlijiet ġurnalistiċi u letterarji f’ġurnali u rivisti Maltin u barranin. Awtur ta’ diversi kotba bil-Malti u bl-Ingliż. Poeżiji tiegħu nqalbu wkoll għat-Taljan, l-Għarbi u s-Serbo-Kroat. Fl-1996 rebaħ l-ewwel premju fil-Commonwealth Short Story Competition għar-reġjun tal-Ewropa u l-Kanada.

Beda l-karriera ġurnalistika tiegħu mal-gazzetti ta’ kuljum u kompla fil-Kamra tal-Aħbarijiet tad-Dipartiment tal-Informazzjoni qabel għadda għall-qasam tax-xandir nazzjonali fejn, għal xejn inqas minn sitta u għoxrin sena sħaħ, mexxa taqsimiet varji, fosthom dawk tal-Aħbarijiet, tar-Radju, tar-Reklami, tal-Pubblikazzjoni u tal-Arkivji, Korrispondent ta’ diversi ġurnali u rivisti internazzjonali.

Charles Micallef St John twieled il-Gżira fid-9 ta’ Lulju 1944. Trabba fi żmien meta Malta kienet għadha ħierġa mit-tifrik li ħalliet warajha t-Tieni Gwerra Dinjija u meta l-familji kienu kbar, riżultat tal-baby boom li beda hekk kif il-gwerra bdiet titbiegħed minn xtutna. Trabba fi żmien meta t-tfal kienu jilagħbu fit-triqat u l-għelieqi, meta karozza kienet lussu u rari tinterrompi logħba ballun fit-triqat. Dak iż-żmien, is-subien kienu jilagħbu bil-boċċi u l-bniet biż-żibeġ, u t-tfal kienu jaħlu l-enerġija u jikkuntentaw irwieħhom b’kollox.

Charles minn ċkunitu kien attiv fiżikament u l-logħob tal-ballun kien il-passjoni ta’ ħajtu u ma kienx ikun hemm okkażjoni li ma kienx jaħtafha. Meta għalaq il-ħmistax-il sena, skopra li kellu talent fil-ġiri u matul it-tliet snin li għamel jikkompeti fuq skala nazzjonali tista’ tgħid li rebaħ kull unur fil-qasam tad-distanza medja u fit-tul, u stabbilixxa rekords nazzjonali meta kien għadu junior. Sadattant, kien jilgħab ukoll il-futbol fl-ogħla livell mal-Gżira United.

Christian Mifsud is a graduate from the University of Malta with a degree in Archaeology and Anthropology and a master’s degree in Baroque Studies. He was active as a fieldwork archaeologist and has also worked on major national sites and World Heritage Sites whilst working with the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage. 

His ongoing PhD studies focus on urban development of the 16^th century Malta, with key research interests including early modern archaeology, urban development, documentation methods and 3D reconstruction techniques for archaeological and historic sites. He currently works at Heritage Malta where he is the curator for Research and Documentation of Historic Buildings.

Clare Azzopardi (1977) is an award-winning writer who writes for both children and adults. She is the Head of Department of Maltese at the University of Malta Junior College and for the past several years has been an active member of Inizjamed, an NGO whose mission is to promote literature in Malta and abroad. With Inizjamed, she has co-organised literary festivals and workshops, often in collaboration with Literature Across Frontiers (LAF). Her work has been translated into several languages and has appeared in a number of collections including Transcript, In Focus, Cúirt 21, Skald, Words without Borders and Novel of the World.

Her play L-Interdett Taħt is-Sodda was published in French (Éditions Thé’trales, 2008) and in Arabic (I-ACT, 2009). Azzopardi has also published 2 books of short stories for adults, both of which won the National Book Prize for Literature – Il-Linja l-Ħadra (The Green Line) and Kulħadd ħalla isem warajh (The names they left behind). Her latest collection was published in Croatian (VBZ) and Hungarian (Noran Libro Kiado). Many of her stories where published in literary magazines such as Words Without Borders and Asymptote. Clare Azzopardi took part in several festivals and in 2016 she was chosen as one of Europe’s New Voices.