Biologist Stephan Mifsud (pictured) will be giving a public talk in Maltese on beasts that appear in Maltese folklore today in the library of the Faculty of Arts, University of Malta, Msida.

This event is part of this year’s series of talks hosted by the Department of Maltese at the University for its project on Oral Traditions, which is supported by the Research Fund of the University and Klabb Kotba Maltin.

Although there were various wonderful entities and fantastic creatures that populated traditional folklore and local superstition, it is still the fearful beasts that capture the imagination of Maltese audiences. In this presentation, Mifsud will dissect the terrible monsters that haunted the Maltese mind, whether they originated from nature, from local culture or from other nations. The talk will focus on the various ways, biological or otherwise, in which these monsters can be classified. The speaker will also discuss the ways in which these fearful beasts were described in oral traditions and in visual representations.

Mifsud is the author of The Maltese Bestiary, an illustrated guide to the mythical flora and fauna of the Maltese islands, published by Merlin Publishers in 2014 and winner of the National Book Prize for Best Book Design.

He is a biologist by profession, with an abnormal interest in bizarre plants and extinct animals and an unnatural fascination for the monsters and creatures that spew from the human mind in myth and fantasy. Unfortunately, diving, painting, gardening, researching and video gaming leave too little time for his other passion: writing.

The talk will be held between 6 and 8pm.