PEN Malta’s podcast, ‘Antenni suspettużi’
Maltese poet and head of communication, international relations and translation at Mana Chuma Teatro, Elizabeth Grech, was interviewed by journalist Karl Schembri for Antenni suspettużi, PEN Malta’s weekly online podcast.
PEN Malta is the Maltese branch of the renowned association in defence of the rights of journalists and writers. Founded in London in 1921, PEN is now active in more than 100 countries on all five continents, with 147 centres supporting freedom of thought within and between nations.
Today, more than ever, freedom of expression is under threat and PEN International works to protect, shelter and resettle writers at risk.
PEN Malta was set up in 2021 after the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, considered a point of no return in the attack on freedom of the press and expression on the Mediterranean island.
“Antenni Suspettużi” (Suspicious Antennas) is PEN Malta’s podcast, created by journalist Karl Schembri, with the contribution of Clare Azzoppardi in terms of research. Available since August 2023 on Youtube and the main podcast platforms, broadcast every Tuesday, it is devoted to Maltese authors and poets who do not frequently appear in the island’s mainstream media.
In “Antenni Suspettużi”, the conversations with the authors do not focus exclusively on their works but also on their political positions, the events of the day in domestic and international politics, and the major current issues.
In the seventh episode of “Antenni Suspettużi”, Elizabeth Grech talks about her book “Bejn baħar u baħar” and the process that led her to compose this collection of poems which she writes, first and foremost, as a woman.
She talks about how she sees Malta from afar, her activism with Mediterranean artists and authors and her work with the Reggio Calabria-based theatre company, Mana Chuma Teatro.