A public conference in Maltese on political prose is being held on April 27, from 8.30am to 1.30pm, in the Aula Prima of the Valletta Campus of the University of Malta in St Paul’s Street, Valletta.

The theme of the conference, organised jointly by the Department of Public Policy (FEMA) and the Department of Maltese (Faculty of Arts), is ‘In-Niggieża tan-Narrattiva: Il-Proża Politika’. Six academics from various fields will focus on literary works that address political themes and ideas, and reflect on the complex interplay between literature, politics and society.

The main speakers are Justine Somerville, Kurt Borg, Romario Sciberras, Michael Spagnol, Luke Buhagiar and Immanuel Mifsud. Their presentations will be followed by a discussion about political resistance in cinema, moderated by Marie Louise Mangion. 

The conference will be opened by Mario Thomas Vassallo, head of the Department of Public Policy, and Simon Fabri, pro rector for research and knowledge transfer. Two open floor discussions will be moderated by academics Kirsty Azzopardi and Marguerite Camilleri. Closing remarks will be made by Adrian Grima, head of the Department of Maltese, and Emmanuel Said, dean of FEMA.

This is the third year running that these two departments from different faculties of the University of Malta are co-organising a public conference. In April 2023, the second in this series of conferences called Lingua Politik on political rhetoric was held at the Valletta Campus. A book with the proceedings of that second conference, edited by Mario Thomas Vassallo and Michael Spagnol, will be given to those who attend the third conference.

The programme of the conference and a link to the registration form are available on malti.mt and on the conference event Facebook page with the title, In-Niggieża tan-Narrattiva: Il-Proża Politika.

The event is open to academics, students and the general public and entrance is free, but online registration is required as places are limited.