personalities

What a week!

In a unique literary event, author and artist Trevor Zahra celebrated the 30th anniversary of his first publication.

Tuesday
Normal routine at school. Updated my website, which I am happy to see attracts Maltese living abroad, even those who have never read my books. One teacher in the US wanted to do a project about me, just to show his class what’s going on elsewhere.
My advice to anyone wanting to be an author is: read a lot, write a lot, throw away a lot! It’s strange that people want to write but refuse to read! Then you have to practise your technique, it’s like sowing a seed in a pot. It needs care for it to grow, but you’ve got to plant the seed first. Then don’t tie yourself down to what you’ve written, keep correcting till the end. In the old days I used to go crazy re-typing everything and adding bits of paper with tape. The computer helps me creatively, I wouldn’t be able to read my own handwriting if I wrote long hand, so I’d be handicapped without the PC. I do illustrations on it too, that’s why I change it every two years.

There is such a need for everyone to read more. We need the quiet time of books which let you be in tune with your imagination. I believe that we need to be bilingual as a nation, after all English is the international language, but we have an advantage to have our own language, which carries its culture within it. I was hurt by the Mnajdra disaster, but why doesn’t anyone pay attention to the constant damage done to our language? Your life vision depends on your vocabulary. Your language is your cultural heritage, and the media in particular have the responsibility to ensure that people are hearing and reading correct Maltese.

Wednesday
I have a huge notice board at home which is my diary. I’m so busy that it gets cluttered but if there’s something extra urgent I’ll write in huge letters. I forget to open my diary to check, so the notice board, a huge cloth-covered piece of jablo, is ideal. This week it was layer upon layer of notes!
No rehearsal today, no time for a siesta either. My siesta time in summer is sacrosanct. Before I had the answering machine I’d unplug the doorbell, phone, everything, but my friends know better than to disturb me before 4pm. The ritual siesta gives me the energy boost I need to get through the day.

Thursday
At school we had a dress rehearsal for our play – and it was a disaster! But I believe that a bad dress rehearsal will mean a good final production because then everyone rises to the occasion instead of slacking. That evening I also had had a dress rehearsal at St James, which went well! We had been rehearsing for so long… the actors had their script since January because they had so many pages, up to 20, to learn by heart. They were so dedicated that they even found time to go to St James on their own to rehearse.
I see my roles as author, illustrator and teacher as being complementary. The children stimulate me, in many ways, including the fact that I write about childhood from the viewpoint of kids. I love art, and when I create a book I see it as a whole, even taking the font and type of paper into account.
I enjoy the art lessons I give which only have an assessment at the end. If it’s an option then the certificate becomes an obstacle to enjoyment. With AML I show them that art is to be enjoyed, and I hope they do, if not I’m doing something wrong. With academic art lessons the children often are asked to do something they are not capable of, and that’s detrimental.
After the rehearsal at St James I stayed on to watch Being John Malkovitch – I just love the surreal, and I’m a real movie buff. Last year I watched about 65 films, and I know because I keep all the tickets in a diary and jot down who I saw them with. There has to be an element of magic in the films I see, as far as subjects go it could be anything as long as the subject is sincere. As long as I’m in good company I’ll enjoy myself, no matter where I am.

Friday
My most hectic day this week. At school we had the first show of the play we had prepared for prize day. It was a production for children from other schools. I wasn’t the producer but I helped backstage and had helped with the set. We were quite tense, although we have a good drama group who are very dedicated.
I was doubly tense because this was to be my first evening at St James too! Thank God I didn’t get my usual migraine. The school play went well enough and at 1.30pm I had to go to the airport to pick up my Italian friend Rafaele who was over for a holiday. We spent a couple of hours chatting over tea, yes he enjoys tea, and then I got ready to go to Valletta. I remembered that I had white wine which needed to be chilled, so Charles Grech came with me to Marsa to get some ice, which I then proceeded to break up. The evening went well so I was thrilled. It was a unique event in that the audience were interactive: they walked around St James and moved from hall to hall while hearing my stories being recited. I think it’s boring when you have to sit down for hours and listen to someone read. At the end I thanked everyone – I don’t find it difficult to talk in front of an audience because I’m also an actor and have been teaching for so long. The event was sponsored by Marsovin and my good friends from Merlin Library, Arthur and Bice Grupetta.

Saturday
Spent a quiet morning doing some food shopping because I noticed the fridge was bare! Then I cooked lunch which is always spaghetti on Saturdays, something I love. I had lots of phone calls to make, had my precious siesta and left at 6pm for St James. We had a full house, a very warm audience indeed. And during drinks, the audience also had the chance to see my exhibition.
We stayed late, and along with the actors and some friends we went to La Cave to have a pizza and share some jokes. I’m well known for my jokes, some are even liable to censorship, so we had a good time, and it was a good ending to a great day.
Sunday
Went out with my Italian friend. He loves villages and old towns so I showed him round a few. At noon we met my daughter and her family and we all went out to lunch at The Pitch in Marsascala. We had cernia, it was very good.
Then I went for my siesta, after having read for an hour or so. Then it was back on to the Internet to check out my website. I make it a point to read as many children’s books as I can to keep up to date about what’s going on in the literary world. I believe that it’s crucial for a writer to be an avid reader – you never know what you’ll get out of it and what will end up stimulating your imagery. My bookshelves are 11 by 16 feet, quite full as well.
Had the last literary evening at St James, so I was feeling happy but a bit nostalgic too. The actors were great, and I enjoyed working with them a lot, including the children.
We had drinks after the show till about 11pm and then I had to give lifts to some of the young actors, and I was asleep by 1.45am. This was a satisfactory week, although hectic. Now, what’s next?