Prospects for the Maltese Economy within the Current Global Economic Developments

Public Lecture organised by IFS-Malta on Wednesday 15 October 2008

The Institute of Financial Services-Malta (IFS-Malta) is organising a Public Lecture on the theme: Prospects for the Maltese Economy within the Current Global Economic Developments.

This Public Lecture will be delivered by Dr Gordon Cordina, who is the Head of the Department of Economics at the University of Malta.

In his presentation Dr Cordina will highlight Malta’s growth prospects in the wake of the global financial turmoil.  He will also touch on issues such as consumption, inflation, trade, investment and competitiveness. In conclusion, he will put forward some policy implications for the current circumstances.

This Public Lecture is being held on Wednesday 15 October, 2008 at The Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry at The Exchange, Republic Street, Valletta and is open to the general public. The Lecture will commence at 1730hrs and tea/coffee will be served half an hour before.

Attendance is free of charge, however, anyone who would like to attend is kindly requested to register at the Institute by phoning on telephone +356 21 240335 or sending an email.

Malta Union of Professional Psychologists
Continuing Professional Development

As part of its Continuing Professional Development Programme (CPD), the Malta Union of Professional Psychologists (MUPP), in collaboration with the ADHD Family Support Group, is organising a one day seminar on Understanding and Supporting Children with ADHD. This one day interactive seminar should be of particular interest to professionals working with children and young persons with ADHD. It will examine the biopsychosocial nature and development of the ADHD diagnosis, multi-modal assessment procedures and diagnostic criteria, and interventions with children and young persons with ADHD. The seminar is being held on Saturday 25th October between 0900hrs and 1600hrs at Robert Sammut Hall, Floriana, and is led by Professor Paul Cooper. Professor Cooper is a visiting lecturer and professor in many countries in Europe, America and the Far East, has an international reputation for his work in the area of social, emotional and behavioural difficulties, and has written a number of books on ADHD.

Another CPD activity by the MUPP in the coming weeks is a 15 hour course on the use of statistics through SPSS. The course is primarily aimed at professionals who would like to acquire the basic statistical skills through the use of the SPSS and it will be based on active, hands on participation, allowing participants to learn the skills required to handle and analyse data. The course is led by Professor Mark Borg and will be held at the University of Malta. It consists of five evening sessions and starts on 12th November.

Participants in both activities will be eligible for CPD accreditation. For more details and registration form send an email.

The International Association of Maltese Linguistics (GĦILM) is an association of scholars from all linguistic sub-disciplines interested in the Maltese Language. It was founded in October 2007 in the course of the Maltese Linguistics conference at the University of Bremen and currently has 43 members from 14 countries world-wide. Its first president is Prof. Dr Thomas Stolz. The University of Bremen has been a corporate member of the German-Maltese Circle for some years.

The primary goal of GĦILM is to facilitate research on the Maltese language. It aims are to become an international contact point for linguists, translators, students and other people working with the Maltese language. Furthermore, the GĦILM seeks to establish the study of Maltese Linguistics as an academic discipline in its own right. The creation of centres for research and teaching of Maltese will be a subsequent goal of GĦILM.

The GĦILM has just announced the publication of a new scientific Journal concerning Maltese Linguistics called “ILSIENNA – Our Language”.  This periodical, the first issue of which is expected in December 2008, will come in one issue of 120-160 pages once a year.  For more information send an email.  or visit the website.

Six foreign and four Maltese short story writers and poets, a Funk band and a singer songwriter will be participating in this year's third edition of the unconventional Malta Mediterranean Literature Festival at Couvre Porte in Birgu on Thursday 11, Friday 12 and Saturday 13 September, 2008. This is the only international literary festival of its kind held in Malta. Moreover, the Maltese art film Ħalib ix-Xitan (Hell’s Despite), directed by Jule Belami, will be shown in Malta for the first time on Thursday.

The readings start at 2000hrs and entrance to all events is free. Each evening will feature three different writers. This will also be a festival of languages, although most of the works will be read mainly in Maltese or English. The Festival is being organized by Inizjamed and Literature Across Frontiers, which is part-financed by the Culture 2007 project of the EU, in collaboration with the Birgu Local Council.

Three Different Nights

The writers reading on Thursday are Greek novelist Chris Chryssopoulos, Maltese poet Claudia Gauci, and Palestinian writer and activist Suzan Sahori from Bethlehem. Slovenian novelist and short story writer Polona Glavan, Maltese poets Caldon Mercieca and Simone Inguanez, and Icelandic poet and singer songwriter Adalsteinn Asberg Sigurdson, will be reading on Friday. Also on Friday, the Maltese-Palestinian writer Walid Nabhan will pay homage to Mahmoud Darwish who recently passed away. The writers who will be reading on Saturday are Moroccan poet Hassan el Ouazzani, Italian poet and performer Paola Turroni, and novelist, short story writer and poet Karl Schembri. The Maltese funk band Zizza Ensemble will be accompanying the authors in their readings on Saturday night. Some of the poets will be performing, rather than reading their work.

The Festival coincides with a one-week residential literary translation workshop held in Malta in which the writers will translate each other’s works. Alexandra Büchler, professional translator and director of Literature Across Frontiers, will be in charge of the workshop.

Short Stories, Poetry and Music

Christos Chryssopoulos (1968) is a novelist, essayist and translator. He is among the most prolific young prose writers on the Greek literary scene and has been featured in many anthologies of contemporary Greek fiction. Claudia Gauci’s (1976) poetry has been published in F'Kull Belt hemm Kantuniera (Inizjamed, 2003), Ktieb għall-Ħruq (Inizjamed, 2005) and The Drunken Boat (USA). In 2005 she read her poetry in Naples. In her writings, which are part journalistic, part literary, the Palestinian writer and activist Suzan Sahori from Bethlehem documents the everyday lives of the people living under Israeli Occupation. She chooses to focus on the misery of common people rather than on the politics and history that have brought about that misery.

On Thursday, 11 September, “Ħalib ix-Xitan” (“Hell’s Despite”), a short art film in Maltese directed by Jule Belami and produced by Dawwara Pictures will be shown for the first time in Malta.

Polona Glavan’s (1974) debut novel Noč v Evropi, (A Night in Europe) describes one of her many journeys, an Inter-Rail trip through Europe. By contrast, in her second book, a collection of stories titled Gverilci, she entered the ranks of socially engaged writers, taking leave of minimalism and tackling a kind of writing that is both socially critical and warmly humorous. Simone Inguanez (1971) has published two collections of poetry, ftit mara ftit tifla (Klabb Kotba Maltin, 2005) and fire, water, earth and i, and has read her work in Lodève, Naples, the USA, Riga (Latvia), Budapest and Lecce. Caldon Mercieca (1976) is co-founder of awl, a small independent publishing house specialising in contemporary Maltese poetry, with which he has released two poetry publications, Mogħlint (2002) and Majorkini (2003). He is currently finishing a cycle of writings based on etchings by symbolist Belgian artist Felicien Rops.

Also performing on Friday is writer and singer songwriter Adalsteinn Asberg Sigurdson (1955), who was born  and brought up in Húsavík, north Iceland. Since 1977 he has published 12 books of poetry and translated poetry, one novel and 10 children´s books. Apart from the books he has produced many recordings of his lyrics and songs. Sigurdsson lives in Reykjavík as a full-time writer, songwriter and publisher of music and literature.  

Hassan El Ouazzani (1970) is one of Morocco’s most important young poets. He belongs to the generation of poets who has effected a postmodern paradigm shift in the poetry scene in Morocco. Of him German poet Tobias Burghardt has written: “The poet, whose presence was noted at the Medellin Poetry Festival in Colombia, uses paradox to create a coherent poetic system.” Karl Schembri (1978) has written a collection of short stories, Taħt il-Kappa tax-Xemx (2002) and a novel, Il-Manifest tal-Killer (2006), which will be presented as a theatre production in October. His first poems appeared in the anthology, Frekwenzi ta’ Spirti fis-Sakra.

Another performer on Saturday will be Paola Turroni (1971), who was born in Monza, Italy, where she studied the classics until she started to roam, to change lives and cities, for study and for the fun of it, until she settled in Luino on the Lago Maggiore. She holds cinema, communication and theatre workshops. She has collaborated, amongst others with Rai Radiodue and has published books of poetry and short stories.

The participation of Maltese Funk band Zizza Ensemble in last year’s festival, and their collaboration with the guest writers, was a great success. So this year they were once again invited to close off this three-day festival. The members of the band are Steve Delia on guitars, Ruth Abela on saxophone, Charles Cassar on bass, and Mark 'Zizza' Abela on drums.

The Festival is being held with the support of the Malta Tourism Authority, the National Book Centre of Greece, and the Icelandic Literature Fund. The FIVE project for intercultural dialogue and Koperattiva Kummerċ Ġust made Suzan Sahori's participation in this festival possible.

For more information about the Malta Mediterranean Literature Festival and the LAF International Literary Translation Workshop visit the website.

The Mental Health Association, Malta is an NGO working for the families and users of mental health services. Its main aim is to reduce stigma associated with mental illness through education for the general public, school children and relatives of the mentally ill. The Association is affiliated as a full member with the European Federation of Associations of Families of People with Mental Illness (EUFAMI). This is a strong body lobbying for the rights of all families affected by mental illness.

The World Mental Health Day will be celebrated on Friday 10 October 2008.  In order to commemorate the event, on that day, the Mental Health Association will be screening the film 'A Beautiful Mind' at St James Cavalier at 1730hrs. The film will be followed by a discussion on aspects of mental health. Entrance to the film is free of charge.