Professor Joseph M. Brincat was invited by the Associazione Antonello da Messina to give the first public talk in a series commemorating the 150th anniversary of the birth of the great writer Luigi Pirandello. The talk was given at the historic Gabinetto di Lettura of Messina which was founded in 1861
Prof. Brincat explained how the Risorgimento and family reminiscences were intertwined in the characters of a long poem, a novel and two novellas, expressing a rather ambiguous attitude to the island of Malta. On the one hand Luigi would have liked to visit the place (Burmola) where his 13-year old mother had lived for two years and visit the tomb of his patriotic grandfather, who had sought refuge there after the revolt of 1848 but lived in poverty and ill health till 1850. On the other hand he had a kind of apprehension which kept him away, even after he had been invited to give a lecture in Valletta.
In Messina Professor Brincat also lectured at the University’s multidisciplinary postgraduate course on 'Migrazioni di ieri e di oggi nel bacino del Mediterraneo: lingue, storie e culture', dwelling on linguistic contact in various directions across the sea.