The poems of Maltese poet Elizabeth Grech have been selected for publication in the journal Quaderns de la Mediterrània (QM) published by the European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed). This issue is curated by poet and cultural figure Manuel Forcano, whose work has long contributed to strengthening literary and cultural exchange in Mediterranean contexts.

Dedicated to reflecting on the idea of the Mediterranean as a cultural, historical and symbolic construct, this issue brings together writers, thinkers and cultural figures to examine how the notion of a shared Mediterranean identity has been shaped, questioned and reinterpreted across time. It explores the relevance of the Mediterranean “myth” today through contributions spanning literature, poetry, theatre, cinema, photography and critical thought, highlighting the region as a space of dialogue, exchange and shared values, while also interrogating the narratives and imaginaries that have historically defined it.

The publication includes the feature From Myth to Body: The Sensitive Geography of Elizabeth Grech, which presents a poetic journey through an intimate and symbolic Mediterranean. Born in Malta, Elizabeth Grech is a poet and translator whose work intertwines sea, land and cultures, guiding the reader towards a space where love, memory and resistance are constantly rewritten. Her poetry traces a symbolic and embodied Mediterranean where myth merges with lived experience. From the evocation of the feminine and the sacred, through desire, loss, friendship and exile, to resilience, sensory memory and liberation, her work invites readers to inhabit a total Mediterranean: affective and political, intimate and collective, corporeal and mythical. The feature also includes recordings of the poems read in Maltese by the poet herself.

This feature is published in the framework of the collaboration between IEMed and the Festival Barcelona Poesia in which Elizabeth Grech participated in 2025. The festival is an international platform that brings together diverse poetic voices from across the Mediterranean region and beyond.

Through this new journal readers are invited to encounter a Mediterranean that is intimate, vibrant and continuously evolving — a space shaped by encounters, memories, bodies and stories that move across its shores.

Translations into Català by Maria-Arboç Terrades, in English by Irene Mangion and Albert Gatt, into Spanish by Marisol Bohorquez Godoy and in French by Elizabeth Grech.

Further information:
https://www.iemed.org/publication/from-myth-to-body-the-sensitive-geography-of-elizabeth-grech/