The government has reached out to Walid Nabhan in the hope of finding “a positive resolution” after the Maltese language author said he would leave Malta because of rising living costs and dwindling work opportunities.
Culture Minister Owen Bonnici said he was “saddened” to hear the news of Nabhan’s planned departure, adding that the author was well-respected.
“I asked two entities that fall under my ministry to reach out to the author and he has already been contacted. A meeting will be held in the hope of finding a positive resolution, where we can help Walid Nabhan if he would like it,” Bonnici told Times of Malta earlier this week.
Bonnici said that the Palestinian ambassador, Fadi Hanania, also met the author and offered his support to help resolve the issue.
“My wish is that this author keeps on giving his contribution to this country.”
Last Sunday, Nabhan said he had been left “penniless”, expressing his dismay at the country “to which I gave my life but which gave me nothing in return when I stumbled”.
Nabhan, who is of Palestinian descent, said he will return to Jordan, the country where he was born and raised before moving to Malta almost 35 years ago.
“I love Malta more than anywhere, even more than Palestine,” he told Times of Malta when contacted.
“I’m not leaving because I’m unhappy. I’m leaving because I can’t feed myself, I can’t even buy a piece of bread.”
Nabhan, an award-winning author, says his livelihood was put in danger when the National Book Council decided to terminate his contract shortly after the entity’s leadership changed from one Mark Camilleri to another.
He was engaged part-time by the book council to translate books from Maltese to Arabic, successfully translating eight books over a two-year period.
Remarking that the book council was not under the culture ministry, Bonnici did not say how the ministry could help Nabhan.
“One cannot anticipate what will happen at the meeting,” he said.
Referring to Israel’s invasion of Gaza, Bonnici said that, right now, the government needs to show more solidarity with citizens of Palestinian descent.
Nabhan has established himself as a leading literary figure in Malta throughout his years here. His acclaimed semi-biographical novel L-Eżodu taċ-Ċikonji (The Exodus of the Storks) won Malta’s National Book Prize in 2013 and the European Prize for Literature a few years later, in 2017.
The novel tells the story of a Palestinian refugee who flees his homeland and finds himself living in Malta.
Nabhan’s family made a similar journey, fleeing the Palestinian city of Hebron into neighbouring Jordan during the 1948 Nakba in which almost a million Palestinians were forced out of their homes. He still maintains strong links to Palestine, with much of his extended family remaining in the country today.