Erbgħin Jum
Winner of the Malta National Book Prize 2018
Shortlisted for the European Poet of Freedom 2020
Author: Antoine Cassar
Illustrations: Steven Scicluna
Graphic design: Marco Scerri
Editor: Immanuel Mifsud
Language: Maltese
Price: €15
Paperback: 152 pages
Dimensions: 130 x 180 mm
Available at Kixott’s Bookshop, Mosta
Il-mixi. Attività primordjali tal-bniedem, li kulma jmur qiegħda ssir dejjem iktar eżotika, għad-detriment ta’ saħħitna fiżika u mentali. Għal għonq il-mogħdija, fir-ritmu naturali ta’ passejna ladarba s-saqajn jintelqu għal riħhom, hemm il-gost, hemm katarsi mġissma, hemm opportunità biex inqattru minn ġo fina l-mostri li jgħammru f’demmna, f’tifkirietna, jew fl-istħajjil tagħna. Ċans biex insiru, aktarx, tikka iktar umani.
Wara snin ta’ kitbiet sfużi dwar passaporti, fruntieri u mapep, Erbgħin Jum, ix-xogħol il-ġdid ta’ Antoine Cassar, huwa poeżija tul ta’ ktieb li ddur ‘il ġewwa, pellegrinaġġ brutalment personali fil-kartografija miġnuna tal-passat, mingħajr boxxla jew bastun.
Imqassam f’jiem u ljieli, il-ktieb huwa illustrat bi tmien ‘stazzjonijiet’ minn woodcuts ta’ Steven Scicluna, imnebbħa mill-poeżija nfisha. Il-kapitli ta’ binhar jirrakkuntaw mixja, f’pajsaġġi reali jew metaforiċi, mhux biss bħala eżerċizzju iżda bħala mezz ta’ riflessjoni, tindif tad-demm, trawwim tat-tama, jew sempliċi pjaċir senswali. Bejn mixja u oħra, il-kapitli ta’ billejl, frott l-insomnja, jinterrogaw l-iħirsa tat-tfulija u d-dellijiet li għadhom jixħtu fil-preżent.
Ġenn. Għadab. Paranojja. Iżda wkoll, bil-pass il-pass, il-luċidità, il-fehim, u l-possibbiltà tal-fejqan.
——————
Erbgħin Jum (Forty Days)
To walk. A primal activity which is becoming ever more exotic, to the detriment of our physical and mental health. Along the path, once our legs have settled into their own natural rhythm, there is delight, a full-bodied catharsis, an opportunity to sweat out the monsters that dwell in our blood, in our memory, in our imagination. A chance, perhaps, to become a little more human.
After years of random writings about passports, borders and maps, Erbgħin Jum (Forty Days), Antoine Cassar’s latest work, is a book-length poem that turns inwards, a brutally personal pilgrimage in the crazy cartography of the past, without compass or walking stick.
Erbgħin Jum is split into daytime and nighttime chapters, and is illustrated with eight ‘stations’ from woodcuts by Steven Scicluna, inspired by the work itself. Each daytime chapter narrates a walk, in a landscape real or metaphorical, not as mere exercise but as a means of reflection, a cleansing of the blood, a cultivation of hope, or for the simple, sensual pleasure of movement. Between walks, the nighttime chapters, born of insomnia, interrogate the phantoms of childhood and the shadows they continue to cast in the present.
Madness. Rage. Paranoia. Yet at the same time, each small step leads to lucidity, understanding, and the possibility of healing.
