Discovering Malta and its Poetry with the Maltese High Commissioner

Commonwealth Poetry Podcast

In this episode Gyles and Aphra Brandreth meet with H.E. Emmanuel Mallia, High Commissioner for Malta in the UK. Emmanuel Mallia talks about the part that poetry has played in his life, describing poetry as something that you feel inside. Discussing the poetry of Malta from the oldest known literary text in the Maltese language, a poem dating from around 1485, to the poems and hymns of Dun Karm Psaila. Dun Karm who was a priest, writer and poet, is widely recognised as the Maltese National Poet and wrote the lyrics for the Maltese National Anthem.

Poems in this episode include: Lil Ommi (To My Mother) by Rużar Briffa; and L-Innu ta'Filgħaxija (A Hymn for the Evening) by Dun Karm Psaila.