University of Malta’s very own Professor Norbert Bugeja has published a French poetry book, Oublie qu'elle n'est pas là with the major French publishing house, Les Presses du Réel!

The book was published in the publishing company’s Editions Al Dante collection with a translation from Irene Mangion.

Norbert has also extensively published in other languages including Maltese, particularly Insa li Mhijiex Hawn in 2021 and Nartiċi in 2016.

His book can be bought from many bookshops in France, or it can also be purchased directly online.

In this series of poetry, Professor Bugeja specifically deals with the grief of his own mother who abruptly passed away two decades ago.

“That impelling sense of suddenness has neither ever left nor ceased to fascinate me. It’s a trait that’s owed, perhaps, to the abrupt disappearance of a woman, the way a conversation got dropped sans prior notice in the midst of one summer afternoon, more than two decades ago”, Professor Bugeja wrote on his social media.

“Since then, I’ve sensed again and again that reaching into deep and fraught gaps in time only, so to speak, to call forth the loose ends of that broken tête-à-tête, was never going to be an easy ride”, he continued.

“For years on end, my whole being rioted against it — though when life decided it should happen, it came on with the confidence of a flood”, he concluded

Congratulations on such an incredible achievement!

Facebook/Norbert Bugeja