An evening of eco-fiction and literary dialogue at Valletta Contemporary

Valletta Contemporary will host New Words for a Changing World, a literary event bringing together US poet and artist-in-residence Heather Bourbeau and Maltese novelist David Samuel Hudson.

The evening will feature readings from their latest works alongside a discussion exploring eco-fiction, storytelling, and the role of literature in a rapidly changing world.

Heather Bourbeau is an award-winning poet and fiction writer whose work has appeared in The Irish Times, The Kenyon Review, and The Stockholm Review of Literature. Her writings are included in the Special Collections at the James Joyce Library, University College Dublin. Her latest poetry collection, Monarch, examines overlooked histories from the American West. Bourbeau is also an Associate Artist with the French think tank Pro(to)topia and has worked as a consultant with various United Nations agencies, including the UN peacekeeping mission in Liberia. She is currently developing a new poetry collection and an interactive map focused on protected lands in the Western United States.

David Samuel Hudson is an established Maltese author and journalist. He received the National Journalism Prize in 2018 for investigative reporting and served as a National Book Prize adjudicator in 2020. With a background in teaching, editing, and translation, Hudson is currently a creative writing lecturer. His fiction has earned international recognition, winning awards in both the United Kingdom and the United States, and has been featured in outlets such as NPR and the Chicago Review of Books. In 2024, he published his debut novel M.

Bourbeau is currently undertaking an artist residency at Gozo Contemporary, hosted by the Norbert Francis Attard Foundation. The residency programme introduces artists and creative practitioners to Gozo as a source of inspiration within a Mediterranean context, fostering intercultural exchange, professional development, and collaborative opportunities. Established in 2001, the programme offers flexible residency periods ranging from two weeks to three months.

New Words for a Changing World invites audiences to engage with pressing environmental themes through literature, offering insight into how contemporary writers are responding to ecological and cultural shifts.

The event will take place on 14 May at 5.30pm. For further information, please contact [email protected].