On 17 February, Dr Immanuel Mifsud gave a reading at the Library of Congress in Washington DC. Dr Mifsud was invited to give this reading by the European Division & Poetry and Literature Centre within this prestigious institution.
When introducing Immanuel Mifsud, Dr Lucia Wolf, literary critic and librarian at the LoC, underlined that this was the first time ever since its foundation in 1800 that the Library had invited a Maltese national to present an event. Both H.E. Pierre Clive Agius, Ambassador of Malta to the USA, and Prof. Laura Falzon, Arts Council Malta’s representative in the USA, reiterated the historical significance of the event which was not only important for Immanuel Mifsud’s personal career as a writer but also for the Maltese arts in general. During the event, Dr Mifsud read a number of poems and then was interviewed by Dr Wolf. Books by Maltese authors in the Library’s collection were on exhibition before and after the reading.
When introducing Immanuel Mifsud, Dr Lucia Wolf, literary critic and librarian at the LoC, underlined that this was the first time ever since its foundation in 1800 that the Library had invited a Maltese national to present an event. Both H.E. Pierre Clive Agius, Ambassador of Malta to the USA, and Prof. Laura Falzon, Arts Council Malta’s representative in the USA, reiterated the historical significance of the event which was not only important for Immanuel Mifsud’s personal career as a writer but also for the Maltese arts in general. During the event, Dr Mifsud read a number of poems and then was interviewed by Dr Wolf. Books by Maltese authors in the Library’s collection were on exhibition before and after the reading.
A day before this, Immanuel Mifsud gave another reading at the European Union Delegation to the USA in Washington DC, where he was invited to give also a speech as part of the Delegation’s ‘Conversations in Culture’ series. In his speech, ‘A Rock, a Boat and a Big Blue Sea’, Dr Mifsud spoke of foreignness and migration. This event was held in conjunction with the Embassy of Malta on the occasion of the Maltese Presidency of the Council of the European Union.