Conference on Political Prose

A public conference in Maltese on political prose is being held on Saturday 27 April 2024, from 08:30 to 13:30, in the Aula Prima of the Valletta Campus of the University of Malta in St Paul’s Street, Valletta. This event is open to academics, students and the general public and entrance is free, but online registration is required as places are limited.

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 which address political themes and ideas, and reflect on the complex interplay between literature, politics, and society.

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

The conference will be opened by Prof. Mario Thomas Vassallo, head of the Department of Public Policy, and Prof. Ing. Simon Fabri, Pro Rector for Research & Knowledge Transfer. Two open floor discussions will be moderated by academics Kirsty Azzopardi and Dr Marguerite Camilleri. Closing remarks will be made by Prof. Adrian Grima, head of the Department of Maltese, and Prof. Emanuel Said, the 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 also available on malti.mt and on the conference event Facebook Page with the title, “In-Niggieża tan-Narrattiva: Il-Proża Politika.”