Gorg Mallia: ‘You cannot even trust those to whom you have given your very soul’


The Maltese communications academic, author and cartoonist is an associate Professor and also the head of the Department of Media and Communications at the University of Malta. Mallia has published extensively (in Maltese and English) both in his academic fields of interest and creatively, children’s and adult fiction. His Pullu books for very young children, published by Klabb Kotba Maltin, are among the best-selling books for that age in Malta.  The latest books that he has written and illustrated for children are the fantasy adventures Il-Professur Għasfur and il-Professur Għasfur fl-Ispazju.

What’s the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning?

Push the bedside table away from the bed. I usually pull it flush with the bed at night because it has my mobile, iPad, etc. on it.

What is the best advice you’ve ever received?

Read. It’ll help your imagination.

What do you never leave the house without?

A handkerchief and my mobile.

Pick three words that describe yourself

Creative; emphatetic; a communicator.

What do you consider to be your greatest achievement?

Lecturing at University.

What is your guiltiest pleasure?

Whisky.

What is the most important lesson life has taught you?

You cannot even trust those to whom you have given your very soul.

Property and cars aside what’s the most expensive thing you’ve ever bought?

A MacBook Pro laptop with all the frills.

What is one thing you wish you knew when you were younger?

How to love myself.

Who’s your inspiration?

Anybody who is supremely creative.

What has been your biggest challenge?

Overcoming heartbreak.

If you weren’t a University Professor what would you be doing?

Writing and illustrating fiction full time.

Do you believe in God?  

Afraid not.

If you could have dinner with any person, dead or alive, who would it be?

J.R.R. Tolkien.

What’s your worst habit?

Sitting for hours in front of a computer, and then suffering for it.

What are you like when you’re drunk?

Philosophical. Very.

Who would you have play you in a film?

Gosh... now there’s something I never thought about. NOT Jason Momoa. Definitely not Chris Hemsworh. I don’t know... Bob Hoskins. But he’s dead!

What is the trait you most deplore in others?

Selfishness.

What music would you have played at your funeral?

Stairway to Heaven, by Led Zeppelin. Because of Jimmy Page’s guitar solo, not because there’s any chance for the heaven part

What is your most treasured material possession?

My iPad Pro.

What is your earliest memory?

Screaming blue murder and dragging my feet all the way to pre-school.

When did you last cry, and why?

When my colleague, mentor and dear friend Oliver Friggieri died.

Who would you most like to meet?

Kate Bush.

What’s your favourite food?

A good, old-fashioned fry-up!

Who’s your favourite person on social media right now?

Don’t really follow anyone, but there’s Brad’s Canvas on Instagram that I consider to be awesome.

If you could travel in time, where would you go?

To a time before cars, and before “civilisation” was allowed to run havoc.

What book are you reading right now?

Mick Herron’s Slough House.

If you could have any superpower, what would it be?

The power to wipe out hurtful memories.

What’s one thing you want to do before you die?

Live. Not joking... to get a life!

What music are you listening to at the moment?

I’m a prog man, so my music harks back quite a bit. As I write this, Yes’s Close to the Edge is playing in the background.

In the shower or when you’re working out, what do you listen to?

Either the BBC World Service or a crime audio book (yeah... THAT boring!)