Beltin: Stejjer Minn Nies Minsija, by Ramona Depares, takes a grassroots look at the lives of the original Valletta communities and asks whether this cultural identity is in danger of dying.
Valletta, we’re always told, was a city built by gentlemen for gentlemen. We all grew up on stories about the Knights, and the nobles and their glorious architecture. But what about the rest of the people, you know, those people who throughout the centuries lived away from the palaces. What about… the real inhabitants of the city?
Beltin: Stejjer minn Nies Minsija is a book written from the grassroots, about the grassroots. Award-winning culture journalist Ramona Depares, born and raised in Valletta, zones in her pen on the woman who helps her husband in the grocery store, the footballer hero who lives down the road, the nanna who babysits her grandchild, the man who runs the whole carnival show.
“Growing up in the city is a very particular life experience,” said Depares, who lived a great part of her life in Valletta. And that is exactly what she wanted to capture in the book: the people which give the city its soul. The Knights gave it the shell, and a very beautiful one at that, but no one really ever talked about the inside of that shell.
“Although there are many books about Valletta and its famous people, I always felt there was a void that needed to be filled,” she said. The National Book Council recognised the production value of the idea and together with Merlin Publishers, co-financed the project.
The result is a hardback, instagrammable coffee table book – the ideal gift for anyone who has a love for the city, which even got the thumbs up from veteran author Trevor Zahra, who lauded it as the book which keeps “Valletta alive”.
The book is not autobiographical: some of the anecdotes are based on her life � like how she first learnt to swim with Fort St Elmo as her backdrop � other stories are based on the experiences of friends, relatives and other Beltin.
In her collection of writings – free flowing, short snippets – she tries to bring out the “very loyal, at times difficult, always gregarious” character of the Beltin, who as it happens, are always up for a good party, be it football celebrations or election carcades.
Her staccato-like insights are brought to life with visuals by Moira Scicluna Zahra, an award-winning illustrator, whose unique graphic style is a social commentary in itself.
Together they observe the raw and mundane things that are fast dying out: the women communicating in cacophony to each other across the balconies; the stark white clothes hang out from the verandas to dry. They are becoming rare because people are leaving their beloved Valletta.
“The community is dying out, outpriced by business… it is becoming impossible for average-income families to continue living there because they can no longer afford it,” said Depares. As a result, she fears, the city is fast becoming “a homogenous, sanitised entertainment centre spawning the same bar façades, the same drinks at the same prices and with the same happy hour”.
The only thing she can do is document the stories, the identities and the lifestyle before they die away and she does so with honesty and passion, by a Beltija, for the Beltin.
Beltin: Stejjer minn Nies Minsija is available for sale from all leading bookshops or directly online from merlinpublishers.com.