Antoine Cassar
Antoine Cassar is a Maltese poet, translator, editor, and cultural organiser, and a creative activist for migrants’ rights and universal freedom of movement.Born in London to Maltese parents in 1978, Cassar grew up between England, Malta and Spain, and worked and studied in Italy, France and Luxembourg. In 2004, after a thirteen-year absence from the Maltese islands, he returned to Qrendi, the village of his family, to re-learn a language he had almost forgotten.
A writer of Maltese, English and multilingual verse, in 2008 he represented Malta at the Puglia Biennale des Jeunes Créateurs de l'Europe et de la Méditerranée, and recited his poetry with Nabil Salameh of the Italo-Palestinian musical band Radiodervish. His book Mużajk, an exploration in multilingual verse (Ed. Skarta, 2008) was presented at the Leipzig Book Fair and at the poetry festivals of Copenhagen and Berlin.
In 2009, his composition Merħba, a poem of hospitality was awarded the United Planet Writing Prize. His Maltese poems have been translated into around twenty languages, including Spanish, French, Russian, Mandarin, Kannada and Japanese.
One of Cassar’s most important poetic works to date, Passaport (2009), printed in the form of an anti-passport for all peoples and all landscapes, has been published and presented in eight languages, in a number of cities in Europe, Asia and North America, with profits donated to local associations providing assistance to refugees and asylum seekers in nine countries.
Bejn / Between, a selection of 33 Maltese poems with parallel translation in English (by the author, Éire Stuart & Alex Vella Gera), plus the long English poem The Long Rope, was published and presented in Malta on 30th December 2011 (Ed. Skarta).
In March 2013, Antoine Cassar was the editor of Le monde n'est pas rond, an international artistic newspaper based in Luxembourg, published by Personne n'est illégal in association with Passaport Project. Designed by visual artist Marco Scerri, the publication explores the contemporary realities of migration, borders, and human rights through alternative journalism, art and illustration, photography, prose and poetry, in 4 languages. Le monde n'est pas rond migrated to an artistic webzine on 18th December 2013, International Migrants Day.
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Tag Archives: maps
The shape of Lampedusa (reprise)
(Written following a trip to Lampedusa, two years after writing The shape of Lampedusa – part 1) After having visited Lampedusa, I see four new shapes in its map. As suggested by this mural on the side of a children’s … Continue reading
Christmas Island
Christmas Island, located at 10°30′S 105°40′E, 500 km south of Java in the east Indian Ocean. An Australian territory since 1957. Area 135 km2, population 2,072 (as of 2011). A place where several migrations intersect: Chinese and Malay ‘coolies’ (i.e. migrant … Continue reading
Robben Island
For the past ten days, I haven’t been living where I’m living. I searched for Robben Island on the map, and I’ve been absorbed ever since. Area 5.07 km², pretty much flat, 12 km north-north-west of Cape Town in Table … Continue reading
