60 SECOND INTERVIEW
Immanuel Mifsud was born in Paola, the youngest in a family of eight children. After his primary years at the local state school and secondary education at St Paul's Missionary College, he went to the New Lyceum where he co-founded the literary group Versarti. At 16 he wrote his first poems and some experimental plays which were subsequently staged at Ghar id-Dud and later at Tigne by Ateatru. During his university years, Mifsud directed plays by Max Frisch, Garcia Lorca, Dario Fo and Harold Pinter. However, he later renounced scripted theatre and started working with research theatre groups like Teatru ta' l-Ghomja and Teatru Marta Kwitt, participating in theatre festivals in Malta, Edinburgh and Sarajevo. In 1991 Mifsud published his first collection of short stories, entitled Stejjer ta' Nies Koroh followed by Il-Ktieb tas-Sibt Filghaxijaand Il-Ktieb tal-Mahbubin Midruba. He also published two collections of poems: Fid-Dar ta' Claraand Il-Ktieb tar-Rih u l-Fjuri. Some of Mifsud's works were translated into English, French, Italian and Spanish and published in journals and books overseas. Mifsud lectures contemporary Maltese literature at the University of Malta Junior College and has given lectures at university in radical sociology and theatre in education.
His new collection of short stories L-Istejjer Strambi ta' Sara Sue Sammut will be published next Wednesday by Minima Publishers
° How old are you? Star sign and date of birth?
35. Virgo (and proud of it!) 12 September 1967.
° Wife, children?
No wife and no children, but if I were to have a boy and a girl I'd name them Dimitri and Eléni.
° What would you like to be doing in 10 years' time?
Living comfortably in the Czech Republic.
° What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Living in an egalitarian and free society.
° What is your favourite occupation?
Casalingo.
° What is your greatest fear?
Achluophobia and Aviophobia, which translates to the fear of darkness and the fear of flying on aeroplanes.
° What is it that you most value in your friends?
Open mindedness.
° How would you like to die?
I don't want to die.
° What is your greatest extravagance?
A platter of fine cheeses and a bottle of rare red wine.
° What is your greatest regret?
Not being able to ride a bike.
° What is your most treasured possession?
My mother's wedding ring.
° Which talent would you most like to have apart from the ones you already have?
Composing mammoth symphonies like Mahler did.
° What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Rolling a rock up to a mountain peak only to see it fall down as soon as you reach the top.
° Where would you like to live?
Prague.
° What is your most marked characteristic?
Never thought about that.
° Who are your heroes/heroines in real life?
Parents.
° What is it that you most dislike?
Politicians.
° What is your motto?
Life is Elsewhere.
Interview by Marie Benoît, The Malta Independent on Sunday, 10 November 2002