Janet Mallia hija awtriċi żgħażugħa tas-serje ta’ kotba għat-tfal, “L-Avventuri ta’ Ħal Xuxa”, stejjer ħelwa li, fi kliemha jorbtu “it-tema tal-annimali ma’ aspett tal-folklor Malti li jeħodni lura għal memorji ta’ tfuliti fejn il-ħajja kienet b’inqas ritmu mgħaġġel”. Paġna Mmarkata: Liema huwa l-ewwel ktieb li tiftakrek taqra? Janet Mallia: M’għandi l-ebda idea liema kien l-ewwel ktieb li qrajt però niftakar ċar qisu l-bieraħ li kienu jixtruli ħafna kotba bl-Ingliż u bil-Malti tad-ditta Lady Bird, li dak iż-żmien kienu popolari immens. L-aktar awtur Malti li kont infittex kien Carmel G. Cauchi minħabba li l-kotba tiegħu kienu inissluli tbissima. PM: Min fejn nibtet il-ħajra li tikteb? JM: Inqis li l-kitba tagħmel parti minn ħajti. Minn età żgħira kienet l-hena tiegħi naqra l-kotba, allura kont immur tajba ħafna fil-kitba tal-komponimenti. Meta kont l-iskola sekondarja, kont ngħin lil-librar fil-librerija tal-iskola stess u meta introduċew ir-rivista tal-iskola fraħt li l-kitba tiegħi kienet tingħażel biex tkun ippubblikata. Tista’ tgħid li din kienet l-ewwel togħma ta’ pubblikazzjoni għalija! Malli kbirt u dħalt fid-dinja tax-xogħol, il-kitba kienet parti integrali mix-xogħlijiet tiegħi - kemm fil-qasam ġurnalistiku, tar-relazzjonijiet pubbliċi u ta’ traduzzjoni - allura tista’ tgħid li kien proċess naturali li ngħaddi għall-kitba tal-kotba. PM: U l-ideat ta' dawn il-kotba? JM: Bħall-ewwel serje ta’ kotba tiegħi “L-Avventuri ta’ Ħal Xuxa”, xtaqt nikteb dwar suġġett li jogħġob lit-tfal u nħossni komda nikteb dwaru. Meta kont żgħira kont ngħoxxa naqra dwar l-annimali, allura ddeċidejt li nambjenta l-istejjer tiegħi tal-annimali f’razzett tipiku Malti. Ħsibt li norbot it-tema tal-annimali ma’ aspett tal-folklor Malti li jeħodni lura għal memorji ta’ tfuliti fejn il-ħajja kienet b’inqas ritmu mgħaġġel. PM: X'kienet ir-reazzjoni tiegħek l-ewwel darba li rajt il-kotba stampati u żammejthom f'idek? JM: X’qed tfakkarni! L-ewwelnett l-istejjer tiegħi kienu ilhom għand il-pubblikatur u, bħal kull awtur ieħor, hemm proċess ta’ stennija involut fejn tittama li xi darba jmiss lilek. Meta irċevejt it-telefonata li beda l-proċess ta’ xogħol fuqhom ma ridtx nemmen, aktar u aktar meta bdew juruni l-ewwel xogħlijiet. Meta rajt l-ewwel żewġ kotba f’idejja tirbħek sensazzjoni ta’ ferħ u sodisfazzjon li wasalt għal dak li kont qed tippjana. Kienet ix-xewqa tiegħi minn fuq il-bank tal-iskola li xi darba nikteb ktieb u kif jgħidu, minn jistenna, jithenna, għax spiċċajt ippubblikajt żewġ kotba f’salt! PM: Il-kotba tiegħek huma illustrati. Kif kien dan il-proċess u kemm kien importanti biex jagħtu ħajja lill-istejjer? JM: L-illustrazzjonijiet huma essenzjali minħabba li jagħtu stampa ċara għall-ħsibijiet tal-awtur wara l-istejjer. Personalment nemmen li għandhom parti importanti mill-bejgħ u s-suċċess tal-kotba għax l-ewwel ma tiekol l-għajn. Jiena inqis lili nnifsi ffortunata li kien hemm ħidma f’tim bejn il-partijiet involuti – pubblikatur, awtur u illustrattriċi. Nixtieq nieħu l-opportunità li nirringrazza lill-pubblikatur tal-kotba tiegħi, il-BDL u lill-illustrattriċi, Deandra Scicluna għall-ħidma fejjieda tagħhom. . PM: Ħafna jaħsbu li tikteb għat-tfal huwa faċli. X'tgħidilhom lil dawn? JM: Il-kitba għat-tfal, speċjalment għat-tfal fl-ewwel stadji bikrija ta’ qari, tkun tidher fl-għajn sempliċi, però m’hemm xejn sempliċi dwar din l-kitba. Peress li kull wieħed u waħda minnha ngħaddu minn proċess ta’ żvilupp, “il-kitba tat-tfal” ikunu ilna li ħallejniha warajna allura mhux faċli tirritorna għal dik it-tip ta’ kitba. Hawn awuri li jistqarru li ma jiktbux għat-tfal minħabba li titlob ċertu sengħa, speċjalment jekk ikollok talba minn pubblikatur biex tikteb sentenzi qosra bla aġġettivi jew storja f’inqas minn għoxrin sentenza. Nassigurak li m’hijiex ħaġa faċli. PM: Xi jmiss? X'hemm fil-futur tiegħek? JM: Fil-preżent ninsab ferħana kif intlaqgħu l-ewwel żewġ kotba tas-serje “L-Avventuri ta’ Ħal Xuxa”. Għandi s-sodisfazzjon ngħid li l-pubblikatur għamel stampar mill-ġdid tal-kotba f’temp ta’ xahar u nofs. Dan hu ta’ sors ta’ ferħ għall-awtriċi emerġenti bħali. Bħalissa qed inżur diversi skejjel u niltaqa’ wiċċ imb’wiċċ max-xerrejja tal-kotba tiegħi. Fil-futur qarib se joħorġu aktar stejjer li jagħmlu parti minn din is-serje. Dawn se jkunu maqsuma bejn kotba stampati u ‘e-books’ li huma aċċessibli għall-pubbliku minn fuq il-pjattaforma Octavo, li qed tintuża anki fl-iskejjel tal-gvern. Barra dan, hemm ħsieb ta’ aktar kotba għat-tfal u, min jaf, forsi niktbu xi ktieb għall-adulti wkoll. Il-kotba tas-serje “L-Avventuri ta’ Ħal Xuxa” jistgħu jinkisbu mingħand BDL Books.
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Ħarġa numru 3 ta' Paġna Mmarkata qed titqassam - b'xejn - f'dawn il-lokalitajiet:
Ċentru tas-Saħħa Raħal Ġdid Kunsill Lokali Birkirkara Kunsill Lokali Ħal Safi Kunsill Lokali Kirkop Kunsill Lokali Marsa Kunsill Lokali Qrendi Kunsill Lokali Żurrieq Librerija Ċentrali Librerija ta' l-Universita' Solo Vinyl & Books Valletta Contemporary Min jixtieq iqassam xi kopji jew inkella jakwista kopja ta' din il-ħarga jista' jagħmel kuntatt permezz ta' Facebook. Grazzi lil-Kunsill Nazzjonali tal-Ktieb ta' l-appoġġ tagħhom. For all of its overwhelming presence in modern pop culture, it seems that comic book sensibility has yet to filter down to local literature. Maltese publications have largely been limited to self-published labours of love and these largely tend to stick to the English language. Perhaps it is because of this – although in reality it is deeply influenced by traditional prejudices towards the genre – the local literary scene seems to look down on these publications.
Given this environment, Maltese graphic novels have to work harder for acceptance. It might seem harsh but that is what needs to be done in order for the genre to gain appreciation. If hard work is the currency on which the validity of graphic novels is measured, then Taħt is immediately off to a good start in that respect. There are two versions of this comic – one in Maltese and another in English – that will provide the option of choosing which language they prefer. It would be interesting to see the data that comes out of this experiment. Paġna Mmarkata spoke to Ivan Ellul Xuereb, the writer of Taħt, about this project. Paġna Mmarkata: What is the story about? Ivan Ellul Xuereb: The story is about two brothers, Peter and Marc, who are thrown into the world of fables, in which their aunt used to tell them stories. A few pages into the book, they meet Carla, one of the inhabitants of this strange and wonderful world, and they end up helping her with the problem of a certain missing golden fruit... PM: How did the story come about? What was the inspiration? IEL: The inspiration comes from the stories that I used to read when I was a child. We started off from the idea that we could use a colourful medium to explore a world that's both familiar and strange at the same time, and everything progressed from there. PM: Why did you opt for a graphic novel? Do you feel there is a desire / space in the Maltese market for a graphic novel? IEL: The comic medium was ideal in this case because this makes everything more accessible for everyone. I'm envisioning a half-asleep child and their parent lying on the bed, with the parent acting out the voices for all the characters and the child's imagination bringing the scenes to life. There is plenty of space in the Maltese market for a graphic novel, especially for one that can be read by people of all ages. Unlike novels, the number of comic books and graphic novels written by Maltese people isn't as large yet; and the number of comic works from Maltese people that's available in Maltese is even smaller. Some people think that this is a problem of supply, but others think that this is a problem of demand. This is always the problem of the chicken and the egg. Which should come first? PM: And why both in English and Maltese? IEL: Taħt is available in both English and Maltese because some people might feel more comfortable reading in one language over the other. If we as a country had three official languages instead of two, Taħt would be available in the third language as well. This approach also takes into consideration families who have relatives living abroad and might like to read a story based on a Maltese fable Extreme care has been taken to make the two versions as identical as possible so that everyone can enjoy Taħt in the way that they can get the most enjoyment out of it. PM: What was it like to collaborate on this? IEL: Collaboration is always give and take. You have ideas that might or might not work and you listen to feedback in the development phase. Some of it you might not like, some of it you agree with, and some of it might even be an observation that hadn't even occurred to you. PM: What would success look like? IEL: For me success is very abstract. Of course we can track the number of copies sold, how quickly they sold, which edition sold better, and when a sequel is green-lit. But that only tells us how well we did from a marketing point of view. Success, in my opinion, will come ten, fifteen, twenty years down the line when someone is inspired to write their own adventure for the golden fruit, just like I was inspired to write about the golden fruit twenty years ago. Taħt was written by Ivan Ellul Xuereb and illustrated by Peter Magro. Translations were handled by Luke Caruana whilst Greta Ellul Xuereb carried out the editing. Taħt is a Graphic Novels Library Malta (GNLM) publication. Kemm il-darba kelha poeziji fuq il-paġna ta’ Facebook ta’ Paġna Mmarkata imma Charmaine Tanti issa għandha wkoll xogħol fil-ħarġa numru tlieta permezz ta' l-istorja umoristika bl-isem ta' Professur.
"Ħafna drabi, l-ideat għall-kitbiet tiegħi nislithom minn dak li nara jew nisma'. Il-muża tiġini minn dak li nosserva madwari." Omar Seguna wkoll huwa fost l-awturi nklużi fil-ħarġa numru tlieta ta’ Paġna Mmarkata bl-istorja 'L-Mara ta' l-Uffiċu' Huwa tkellem dwar il-varjeta fix-xogħol tiegħu.
“Fix-xogħlijiet tiegħi wieħed isib kemm poeżiji kif ukoll novelli li ġew pubblikati f'numru ta' ġurnali u antoloġiji. Pero' peress li aktar ktibt poeżiji, l-pubblikazzjonijiet tiegħi jikkonsisti f'żewġ kotba ta' poeżji, Fl-ewwel ktieb tiegħi, b'daħla ta' Ġuże' Chetcuti, kont daħħalt l-idea ta' temi differenti u bi stili differenti. F'xi wħud inħaddem il-vers tradizzjonali bil-metru u r-rima waqt li f'oħrajn esperementajt b'ritmi differenti. F'"24, Triq Ħad-dwieli" li għandu daħla ta' Mario Azzopardi, l-istil tematiku huwa aktar evidenti billi b'xi mod il-poeżiji kollha fil-ktieb huma marbutin u anke l-esperimenti fosthom il-użu tal-poeżija viżwali u dik sperimentali huma aktar espliċiti. L-istil ivarja skont il-burdata li nkun għaddej minnha billi l-istil ifisser aħjar dak li nkun nixtieq nesprimi.” |