As part of the Malta Mediterranean Literature Festival 2025 organized by Inizjamed, In My Dream: An Encounter with Ubah Ali Farah & Franco Tartaglia will take place on August 29 at 8pm at the Concert Hall of the Malta Society of Arts.
During this event, Ubah Ali Farah will be interviewed by Virginia Monteforte about her work.
Ali Farah’s fiction and poetry give voice to the Somali diaspora, tracing pivotal moments in Somalia’s history, from the rise of independence movements under Italy’s protectorate, through the Somali civil war, to the experiences of young Somalis living in Rome.
As an oral performer, Ali Farah will perform part of her poetry in Italian. She will be accompanied by Leanne Ellul who translated her poems to Maltese especially for this occasion.
Musical interludes will be provided by Franco Tartaglia.
The evening will conclude with refreshments.
The 20th edition of the Malta Mediterranean Literature Festival, organised by Inizjamed, will take place from Saturday 2nd to Saturday 30th August 2025.
The Festival will welcome seven writers from six different countries: Ubah Ali Farah – an Italo-Somali novelist and poet; Carmen Camacho – a Spanish poet; Omar N’Shea – a Maltese essayist; Simone Spiteri – a Maltese playwright; Kassia St Clair – a British writer; Maud Vanhauwaert – a Belgian poet; and Michael Zammit – a Maltese poet.
The Festival experience will also be enriched with live music — at times by Kym Pepe and Jimmy Bartolo, and at others by Franco Tartaglia. Books will be available for purchase at each event, including works by the participating authors.
The 20th edition will be held in partnership with Arts Council Malta and the support of Verspolis. The Festival is also collaborating with Spazju Kreattiv, and is being supported by APS Bank, l-Għaqda tal-Malti – Università, the Istituto Italiano di Cultura di La Valletta, the National Book Council, and Teatru Salesjan.
For more information, visit Inizjamed’s Instagram and Facebook pages or the official website, inizjamed.org. Tickets for all events are available at showshappening.com.