'L-Aħħar żifna... U stejjer oħra'

Author: Edgar Formosa

Publisher: Horizons / 2025

Pages: 172

The book being reviewed today is the seventh book by this author.

A former teacher of Maltese for 41 years and head of Department for 21 including eight years teaching Maltese on TV channel Education 22, he not only knows his mother tongue but also knows how to use it well.

And it shows. This point had already been picked up by the late Professor Oliver Friggieri in his introduction to another of this author's books, Insaniam (2014).

Maltese in the hands of an expert such as the author is a pleasure to listen to and to read.

He always seems to find the right, and yet the elegance of the word does not diminish the power of the words used.

He uses a wide lexical background and his syntax is varied so as to keep his output fresh. There are no artificial additions as one finds in many contemporary writings.

Formosa's previous books are: Sena mill-ħajja mistura ta' Daniel Tusa (2004), tikk....tokk...is-sagħtejn (2010), AnastasiA (2012 and 2015), Insaniam (2014), Sensei (2022) and Il-Pinna tad-Dragun Aħmar (2024).

Some of these books were nominated for awards not just in Malta but also abroad.

The book being reviewed today contains three stories.

The first one struck me because I am now in a Retirement Home and this story takes place in a Retirement Home.

This is a relatively new development in literature and opens the door to many hidden stories.

At the same time it is a fantasy story about a strange pact between a dying woman and Death leading to a final dance.

The second story is an equally fanciful tale of a beautiful relationship between a dog and an owl.

The last story tells about a strange dream, carried over a number of nights, about one man fighting a whole army of strange beings and freeing his own mother.

Looking forward to more such tales.