PASSAPORT

Wara għaxar snin jittajjar f’pajsaġġi u ilsna varji fil-qrib u fil-bogħod, il-Passaport jerġa’ lura d-dar.

Nippreżentaw edizzjoni ġdida, riveduta u aġġornata. B’għamla xierqa għall-istejjer li l-poeżija għaddiet minnhom mill-2009 ’l hawn, iżda fuq kollox, b’libsa denja ta’ jdejn il-qarrejja.

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Third edition of the Maltese Passaport, published by EDE Books, with a new design by Marco Scerri, and linocut illustrations by Steven Scicluna.

PASSAPORT is a protest poem denouncing a long, non-exhaustive list of border absurdities and atrocities, nested inside a love poem to humanity as a naturally migrating species.

Since the publication of the original Maltese version in December 2009, the poem has been adapted and performed in over a dozen languages, at festivals and conferences in Europe, Asia, North America and Australia.

Passport is an anarchist love poem, a declaration of universal citizenship, the vision of a world where the fear of barriers and frontiers has long been overcome. A world without customs and checkpoints, without border police out to snatch away the dawn, without the need for forms, documents, or biometric data… A world without the need to cross the desert barefoot, nor to float off on a raft, on an itinerary of hope all too quickly struck out by the realities of blackmail and exploitation. The modulating verses of the poem, the rhythm and alliteration, give force to a voice looking to quicken the planetary conscience of the listener.

Antoine Cassar is a Maltese poet, translator, editor, and cultural organiser, and a creative activist for migrants’ rights and universal freedom of movement.

More information

10th September 2016 Sunshine Coast International Readers and Writers Festival Coolum, Queensland, Australia

PASSPORT by Antoine Cassar

guitar: Tah Riq

Video: thanks to Tahlia Kertesz