Due to appear in bookshops across the Maltese islands from 23 July, Hbula Stirati (Tightropes) is a fresh, perilous, at times even inebriated book of poems written by five individuals with widely differing styles and attitudes to the art of verse. Not altogether shy to tradition, yet unfalteringly eccentric in the pursuit of a personal voice, what the five poets do share in their artistic diversity is an overt desire to bring danger back into poetry.

This is reflected by the very title of the book: indeed, in many ways, Hbula Stirati represents a departure from usual debut collections of Maltese poetry. Few seem to be the Maltese authors who acknowledge that writing can be a risky pastime, and that without that vital element of danger, the poem may suffer from irrelevance and flatulence.

Neither too ostentatious nor too humble, at once flamboyant and austere, each of the five sections of Hbula Stirati is no doubt the result of an unbridled enthusiasm for the poetic word.

The authors

Mario Vella – Former lead vocalist of alternative band Lumière, now leader of the very promising band Il-Brikkuni.

Alex Vella Gera – On a constant search for his voice through music, film and writing, his is a natural, almost unconsciously tender approach to poetry, with a musical quality directly born from the intensity of youth, maturity and the journey in between.

Kevin Saliba – A poet whose linguistic prowess sees him exploring the archaic life of our mother tongue. Kevin uses words which presently lie buried beneath the debris of anglicised, italianised Maltese, but which, like our temples, have lost none of their power.

Antoine Cassar – Once also an active member of the Maltese blogosphere, today more concerned with pursuing his experiments in multilingual verse. Mużajk, a collection of sonnets written in up to six languages at a time, is an attempt to combine the sounds of different tongues into a single rhythm and a single thought.

Cali Grima – Perhaps the most interesting of the five, a self-taught denizen of Valletta and an inadvertent personification of poetic risk.

One interesting, perhaps not totally irrelevant detail about three of the poets (Alex Vella Gera, Kevin Saliba and Antoine Cassar) is that they currently reside in Belgium and Luxembourg.

Hbula Stirati will be launched tomorrow at the Tal-Milorda (Sa Maison) public garden in Floriana, amid the palm trees overlooking the marina. All are welcome to share a drink in those luscious surroundings and listen to some of the poems.

A selection of recorded poems are available for listening at www.hbulastirati.info.

For more information, please contact Sierra Book Distributors, tel. 2137 8576.