Writer/journalist Emma Mattei is 38 years old (just) and lives in Floriana in her hideout which overlooks the Grand Harbour. She claims that although she is a journalist by profession she seems to do “very little of it. Instead I develop and write scripts.” Emma is very creative and has just started making a ‘creative documentary’. She is interested in that line where reality and fiction meet. She is also a member of Kinemastik, an NGO that organizes an annual short film festival, workshops and other independent cinematic events throughout the year. She is a wanderer by nature, is very well-travelled and has lived in several countries. Emma says she would gladly circumnavigate the world. “Living in a small place makes us all too aware of the many lives beyond our shores,” Emma comments.

Last Wednesday Emma launched Uncommon Malta & Gozo: travelogue and companion which is edited by herself and Jon Banthorpe and published by Uncommon & Miranda Publishers. The book launch took place at The Anadrian Engine Room, The Malta Maritime Museum, Vittoriosa.

“I have one brother called Alexander. He’s younger than me and he’s a chef. We have a very dynamic relationship that involves heated debates and great support”.

I love eating Spaghetti vongole and peaches that drip juice down your hands after a swim at Ghar Lapsi.

When I have some time to spare I enjoy swimming at Ghar Lapsi

My favourite holiday destination is The Stockholm Archipelago

One living person I admire is Aung San Suu Kyi. How does she do it?

A character in fiction I like very much is Holden Caulfield (the 16-to-17 year-old protagonist of author J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye ), when he gets sentimental about things … although this choice may sound like a cliché.

If I could change one thing about myself it would be my fears … and my inquietude.

The writers I like best are the ones that don’t hide behind obtuse ideas and archaic words, but still dazzle you with great thoughts. John Berger for example, or Hemingway.

My dream job is one that doesn’t involve a boss.

My kind of music is … I don’t have a kind of music, so it’s almost anything except drum and bass. And I have been proved wrong on categorically hating that too!

If I won the lottery I would disappear for a year and then buy a house on a cliff overlooking the Aegean sea

My motto is ‘Sod ‘em all.’