Winner of the European Union Prize for Literature In this captivating collection of stories, people are often at a crossroads, somewhere between a world they know and one they feel pulled towards. Torn between past and future, centre and periphery, real and imaginary, they move from one point in their existence to another, trying to understand a life they have lived but perhaps never fully comprehended. A woman is overjoyed at the news her husband has been found dead. A crow breaks into a young couple's flat, smashing perceptions and assumptions, and a dying father sends his son on a journey to meet an old flame. A young boy builds friendships with burnt matchsticks and a widow makes her husband's manuscript her own. From the heart of the Mediterranean comes a new and exciting storyteller, a keen observer and a great collector of people's moods. "The is a book about storytelling, not only as a form of pleasure that is shares between writer and reader but more importantly as a gift that's given with love and needs love to be appreciated." - The European Union Prize for Literature Jury
Author
Born in Malta, Pierre J. Mejlak has been writing novels and short stories since he was young. He is published by Merlin Publishers. Mejlak has written books for children, adaptations, a novel and two collections of short stories, winning numerous awards, including five National Book Awards, the Commonwealth Essay Writing Award and the Sea of Words European Short Story Award. His first collection of short stories for adults, Qed Nistenniek Niezla max-Xita (I'm waiting for you to fall with the rain) was published to critical and popular acclaim in February 2009. His second collection of short stories, Dak li l-Lejl Ihallik Tghid (what the night lets you say) was published in June 2011. A number of his short stories have been translated into English, French, Catalan, Portuguese, Serbian, Arabic, Spanish, Indonesian and Italian and were read at numerous literary festivals around Europe and the Middle East. Mejlak's award-winning novel Rih Isfel (southern wind) has been turned into a 13-episode prime-time TV series for Malta's NET TV. Two times winner of the Malta Journalism Award, Pierre J. Mejlak worked as a journalist from 1999 to 2005. He was a BBC correspondent, a regular columnist for Malta's daily In-Nazzjon and produced radio shows - including 60 one-hour documentaries on rock legends - for various national radio stations. From an early age, Pierre J. Mejlak published a number of magazines, including his very-own monthly magazine Il-Fwieha tan-Narcisa, which he wrote, edited and published from January 1996 to December 2000. In 2004 he left Malta to Brussels, where he still lives.
