Antoine Cassar
Maltese, English, multilingual poet
Posted by antoinecassar - SEPTEMBER 2009
Merħba, a poem of hospitality
Grand Prize Winner
of the
United Planet Writing Contest 2009
Article on MaltaMedia
Aqra Merħba bil-Malti
Read the English adaptation of Merħba
Listen to an early performance of the poem at d:qliq, Luxembourg -
© gezett.de
Antoine CassarBorn in London to Maltese parents in 1978, Antoine Cassar grew up and studied in England, Malta, Italy and Spain. He is currently completing a doctoral thesis on the origins of the sonnet. He lives in Luxembourg, where he works as a translator. - IN BOOKSTORES NOW
Mużajk
an exploration in multilingual verse
Published by
Available to buy from bookstores across Malta and Gozo, or online at
Sierra Book Distributors
Free home delivery in Malta & Gozo -
Mużajk is a work in progress exploring the possibilities of multilingual verse, an attempt to braid together the sounds and cadences of different tongues into a fluid rhythm and a coherent stream of thought.
Written in a blend of English, French, Italian, Maltese and Spanish, and later sowing in other languages according to the subject, the mużajki or mosaics journey through a variety of themes, among them the pleasure and futility of living, love unrequited or fulfilled, the beauty of the Mediterranean, the desire for simplicity in an ever-increasingly complicated lifestyle, the absurdity of colonialism and its after-effects, and the at once exhilarating and disorienting feeling of variety itself.
The first series of mosaics was published in July 2007 in the Maltese poetry anthology Ħbula stirati (Tightropes). A handful of mosaics have also appeared in publications in Italy (Nuovi Argomenti), Kuwait (The Daily Star), Australia (The Chimaera) and the U.S. (The Drunken Boat, Other Voices).
In May 2008, Antoine Cassar performed at the Biénnale des Jeunes Créateurs d'Europe et de la Méditerranée in Puglia, Italy. In October 2008 Cassar was awarded a 'Segnalazione' in the international Premio Nosside.
During 2009, Cassar was invited to present the book Mużajk - an exploration in multilingual verse (Edizzjoni Skarta) at the Leipziger Buchmesse, the Copenhagen Poetry Festival and the Poesiefestival Berlin.
In September 2009, the long narrative poem Merħba, a poem of hospitality, part of a new project combining verse in Maltese with a wider variety of tongues, was declared the Grand Prize winner of the United Planet Writing Contest.
For more information on the mosaic project, read the introduction, or click here to read and listen to a selection of the poems. LINKS
DisclaimerThe opinions expressed in the text of this site are solely those of the author, and are not to be associated with any group or institution in which the author is or has been involved.© Antoine Cassar 2009.
