On the 23rd of October 2025, personal essay writing workshops in Maltese were held at Mikelanġ Refalo Post-Secondary School in Rabat, Gozo, as part of Essays Beyond Borders.
In these free-writing sessions, students wrote about a place to which they have a special connection — a place that may have changed over time but remains tied to their hearts because of a particular experience or event. They could associate this place with images, emotions, sensations, sounds, smells, and more.
At the start of the workshop, the students learned about the characteristics of the personal essay, including through the example of ‘Shooting an Elephant’ by George Orwell, and then examined the opening paragraphs of several older and more recent essays in Maltese. However, most of the time was dedicated to writing, with the aim that by the second workshop they would have drafted most of their essay and could focus on crafting a strong concluding paragraph.
The personal essay writing workshops in Maltese are being led by Adrian Grima and focus on the framework ‘Body. Story. Place.’
Special thanks go to the leadership of the Mikelanġ Refalo School and to the Maltese language teachers.
ISEM. ĠRAJJA. POST
Workshops tal-kitba tal-esej, Skola Mikelanġ Refalo, ir-Rabat, Għawdex
It-23 ta’ Ottubru 2025 saru l-ewwel workshops tal-kitba tal-esej personali bil-Malti fl-iskola postsekondarja Mikelanġ Refalo tar-Rabat Għawdex bħala parti mill-proġett Ewropew Essays Beyond Borders. F’dawn is-sessjonijiet ta’ kitba ħielsa, l-istudenti jiktbu dwar post li għandhom rabta speċjali miegħu, post li jista’ jkun li nbidel matul iż-żmien imma qalbhom tibqa’ marbuta miegħu minħabba esperjenza jew ġrajja partikulari. Għalhekk ma’ dan il-post jista’ jkun li jorbtu xbihat, emozzjonijiet, sensazzjonijiet, ħsejjes, irwejjaħ, u l-bqija.
Fil-bidu tal-workshop l-istudenti semgħu dwar il-karatteristiċi tal-esej personali, anki permezz tal-eżempju ta’ “Shooting an Elephant” ta’ George Orwell, u mbagħad ħarsu lejn l-ewwel paragrafu ta’ għadd ta’ esejs antiki u riċenti bil-Malti. Iżda ħafna mill-ħin qattgħuh jiktbu, bil-ħsieb li sat-tieni workshop ikunu kitbu ħafna mill-esej tagħhom biex ikunu jistgħu jikkonċentraw fuq paragrafu b’saħħtu fl-aħħar li bih jagħlqu l-kitba tagħhom.
Il-workshops tal-kitba tal-esej bil-Malti qed jitmexxew mill-Prof. Adrian Grima u jiffukaw fuq il-qafas ta’ “Ġisem. Ġrajja. Post.” Ħajr speċjali lit-tmexxija tal-Iskola Mikelanġ Refalo u lill-għalliema tal-Malti.
