A Revolution of Consciousness

Steve Borg is an extraordinary man, one who you find you can talk to for hours without ever being at a loss for words - as I listen back to our conversation I can appreciate our creative-mindscapes as we jump from one topic to another, but it all makes sense. Here we talk about his latest endeavours, travel, societal and cultural behavioural change, sustainability, author responsibility, the beautiful Portugal, and much more. Read on to find out for yourself … 

We start off with a pleasant surprise - something I was definitely not expecting but which started a thread throughout our conversation. And so our conversation starts with Steve’s travels to the birthplace of myFilipe - Madeira. The beautiful and varied landscapes of Madeira I have to say are unparalleled, but it was a joy to hear this from someone else who has been there to appreciate the landscape and the people. I am afraid my experience of the place is still in-transit! 

Nonetheless, it is from Caniçal (Madeira) that our journey starts, in a time not too long ago when the people of this town would whale as a livelihood; Steve relates how they would be on the lookout for any gush of water coming from a sperm whale or blue whale and would call out “Baleia” and the whale hunt would start. What is interesting and beautiful to appreciate is how they have now become the centre, in Madeira, not for whaling but for whale-watching! This is how behavioural patterns change - this is how we can create positive change and positive experiences today, take something that we know (and maybe the only thing we know) and look at it from another perspective. 

The Portuguese are not pretentious people at all. You know when I was there with my friend, and we’re from Marsaskala and Birgu respectively, the other students would just talk to us and we’d have a good night out, but the Maltese wouldn’t do that. There might be some class distinction, but not so much. And I like that. 

Mmm yes, everyone feels they are equals - as it should be, after all. 

Exactly.     

Steve tells me about his time with Greenpeace and how it enhanced his perception of responsibility and social consciousness. I personally think it is very important for us, especially from adolescence to late 20s to be able to let ourselves grow through such experiences (before the responsibilities of adulthood or our chosen path pulls us away from such matters) - through doing something for others and working for a purpose outside ourselves.    

Travel is so important to be able to experience new things and also to broaden one’s mind. Travel is what has inspired Steve’s latest work of short stories. 

I would always backpack, especially at your age, so I believe I’ve been to about 36 countries by now. You realise (when it comes to writing especially) that you need to think outside the box, to read anything which somebody else wouldn’t read. Why? So that you have new knowledge, because there’s so much information out there that you have to look for the particular. So for example, I read the newsletter of an island in the South Atlantic, because as I’m reading I am understanding their nuances, their peculiarities - for example, the price of native tropical fruits, that they used to export but they don’t anymore due to the pandemic, just something seemingly inconsequential as this.

And these little things and instances might then end up in your writing, in this case your short stories. 

Yes … 

And is there an element of consciousness to be found in each story? 

Well, there are two ways in which we live. We are either angry with the world, or at peace with it, where you realize that there are many pitfalls but also realise that you can rise. You know, life teaches you, your experiences give you another perspective to life and it’s up to you to choose how to look at things, experience them and react. Sometimes a moments mistake can have a huge affect on someone else’s life and you know some things stay with you, but I take the positive - because you cannot be and remain angry at everyone. 

Charles de Foucauld, who was a hermit and wrote the first Berber (also Tuareg) dictionary, he was thinking about life in possibly the most remote places on earth - the Sahara. There is a certain amount of mental conditioning here, on how you look at things.     

“It is not necessary to teach others, to cure them or to improve them; it is only necessary to live among them, sharing the human condition and being present to them in love.” - Charles de Foucauld 

Steve has translated both Paulo Coelho’s book ‘The Alchemist’ becoming L-Alkemista’, and also Trezza Azzopardi’s ‘The Hiding Space’ which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, into Il-Moħba.

In Maltese I had to make sure that the meaning is not lost in translation, but on the other hand I also had to make sure that it doesn’t become my novel, it remains hers [in relation to  Il-Moħba]. 

That is one of the main issues with translation - choosing the type or mode of translation and making sure there’s a balance between meaning and the original piece.  

When it came to translating Coelho it was difficult, I actually did spend only a few days in the Sahara, but it was enough. It helped me to comprehend what being in a large expanse of land, where everything is flat; where there is a horizon but it is featureless, hence you see stars and sky right down to the ground. It’s a place where you can feel as though you can grasp the stars in your hands at night.

So having that experience allowed you to enter the context. 

Yes, exactly. Whilst we were there we had a beautiful experience, we were having dinner with our camel-rider who was descended from a Malian tribe, and an Algerian who loved Beethoven… 

To which I butt in with, “How very English Patient”! 

Beautiful film and of course Michael Ondaatje is brilliant. You know it’s remarkable how we perceive life, sometimes we say that our life is bland, it’s routine, it’s a pattern. And it’s because you allow it to become a pattern, I mean there are so many exciting things one could do. We allow ourselves to go into a spiral, and do not experiment to try to savour an acquired taste. I remember the camel-rider realised we were short on bread, so he said he’ll go and get some from his father’s camp. And we thought to ourselves ‘How is he going to do that?’. And yet he was out of the tent, on his camel and was guided to his father’s camp by the stars. Within the hour he was back with more bread! To transpose experience into writing, you need to be fresh and you also need to crush barriers. 

Isn’t that simply amazing, yes and exactly you have different cultures and traditions coming together and being! 

“To transpose experience into writing, you need to be fresh and you also have the ability to crush barriers.” - Steve   

How about when it comes to your personal reading? How do you choose what to read? 

I am very selective about what I’m reading, I try to look out for clever writing, so to speak. You also have to be selective because there’s only so much time, only so much you can read. So what I do is see the publishing house, who they are, the subject. If I like what I see but I don’t know the author then I’ll read the synopsis, and then I’ll read the book; or else it would be an author I trust. I also enjoy the writings in Granta. There’s also Simon Winchester for example, he writes about these places which no one else would write about - for example, Diego Garcia which is an atoll that the British and Americans took over; they uprooted the people who lived there to Mauritius and told them they could never go back to their country.  

I am from Marsaskala but one of my grandparents was from Bormla (Cottonera) and there is a stigma attributed to people from there, which I fight against. You know during the war many families from that area were evacuated because of the bombing and after the war the repairs were make-shift, so only those with low income went back, not the original inhabitants. But I found an interesting document dating to 1899, which reveals the marks of children in Malta and Gozo, and it shows that Bormla was the only school in which all the students passed in all subjects. 

This is amazing, and also something which is never brought up. 

Because in Malta there’s this social divide, for historical and political reasons; the historical being the cultural dichotomy of siding with either the British or the Italians. I am with neither. I studied in England, for my Masters and PhD but I am as at home in England as I am in Italy. I am also Maltese, so I can look at both from a distance. I do have a soft-spot for the British, but then I recognise certain negative facets - the conceitedness, the occasional derogatory remarks. The fact that I am Maltese does not make me a colonial, it just means that I am capable and smart enough to go to a British university and graduate. Even when it comes to politics, I do not allow my political leanings to affect my decisions, or my writings. I am my own man and I arrive at a point of agreeing or disagreeing after evaluating what I’ve read and what I’ve heard.   

Great conversation, inspiration and of course, a cuppa!

Which many people here do not do. They simply side with their part, and have this sense of whatever goes, which is ridiculous. 

Yes, and so with my writing too I am and I work to be as precise as possible, never partisan and things are always done consciously. For example, the index is analytical - the writing is classless, it empowers every individual. Some people said that my writing was nationalistic, but I told them they were wrong. Why? The reason is simple, and it is that in both my books I write about the prestige, and the good moral character of the Maltese and in the same writing I mention the sex-workers, the smugglers, the ruffians, the counterfeiters that were Maltese. If the writing was nationalistic, I would have skimmed that away and given the image of perfection. Actually I declare it and my introduction sets the mood for the entire piece. I say that the Maltese have a lack of self-awareness - they don’t know who they are, I think we have lost so much in the last 30 years of that which makes us a people and these days it’s all around us, with people we come face to face with everyday. My books are an exercise of collective memory; are they political? Yes, because we’re talking about people here, their lives and also their philosophy of life, so they are political, what they are not is partisan. Political also because I have placed people there that were so insignificant in life, that had I not documented their life, that lifestyle would have remained undocumented. In my writing I also wanted to champion women and what they went through, without having any social recognition of the role they were playing; and also how they were being barred from taking part in social life. 

“A girl saved up all her pennies to buy a typewriter, and her father took the money to buy her a sewing machine.” - a shared experience  

I was going to ask you something very close to what you’ve picked up on here with colonialism and our culture and mentality towards the outsider, as I studied colonialist writers like Rushdie and Naipaul, and there is always this divide and this somewhat confused merging of both realities within a single identity - these authors for example show that they cannot reconcile with being both most of the time - and within that divide I try to find a whole, which even they cannot grasp or they might not want to. Like them, we as Maltese are also made up of various influences and cultures but it is all of them and only because of them that we are who we are, that we are one. 

Exactly. But do you find it to be a discomfort?  

I personally don’t. But then neither do I define myself by the country of my birth, my nationality or my culture. 

Unlike myself. I am the other way around. You know maybe 10 years ago I would have pondered whether I should meet someone who is Maltese but speaks English, now I think differently. And I was like that because I was so upset that there was so much information [about these Maltese lives] but they were being ignored - my own flesh and blood. But on the other hand, when you grow older you realise that you know, I did it and also that there are so many insular people and they’re missing all the opportunities that are out there, and if they cultivate themselves they can bring that experience to Malta for better use. Even when it comes to my studies , that which I have learnt is always invested for the betterment of my country, of my own roots. 

You asked me on the phone if I would have stayed in England after my studies. And you know, the world is much smaller now but I might have lived in Europe or England, and come to Malta often. But on the other hand, even though Malta has many things which nerve me up, it is also where I am most rooted. I know that if I dig deep enough I will find so much information, and this motivates me further so I couldn’t just leave and let go. 

I gather information through oral testimony, through publications, even out-of-print documents which are very hard to find, from the archives reading correspondence files (some of which have not been opened these last 100 years), and you know you’re the first person to see this file since it was put away - you’re reading about people and what happened … 

“I find the details - the catalysts, in the most unlikely of places.” - Steve   

And am I correct in understanding that in this, your 3rd volume of Il-Maltin: Għemilhom, Drawwiethom, Ġrajjiethom you’ll be looking into Valletta? 

Yes. I am democratic in my writing, I wrote about the people of Malta, Gozo and Comino. I have a chapter on Comino in both volumes, but I didn’t have a chapter on our capital which doesn’t make sense. So, I devoted a lot of energy on information about our capital. I’m quite pleased I found out new information which, once published, will give us a different perspective to approach our capital with. I am also looking into Żurrieq too, which I am quite excited about. There will also, like always, be recipes.  

So that’s something to look forward to! And how about your grandparents, did they influence the man you are today? 

Yes and they are in both volumes. My grandfather from Bormla, passed away when I was about 8 years old. One of his poems is in the first volume, and it shows you how much he loved Malta. In my next volume there’s a poem my grandfather wrote to my father in the war, which is very emotional because it’s a poem to his son in case he dies in the war. He didn’t but he wrote it in 1941. Then my other grandfather was a fisherman. I’m proud of both of them. I knew my latter grandfather longer, so we were closer and I noticed that he knew and spoke a Maltese which was largely untainted. His simple way of life was organised to survive as a fisherman, he depended only on himself so I cannot but admire him. You have fish and catch fish at all costs, if it’s bad weather then you’re mending nets, if not mending then making traps for octopus. Even the knowledge and the craftsmanship to it all. The suffering as well, not only when fishing but to get the cane he would go to Siġġiewi and walk it back to Marsaskala with the cane on his back. This puts me in my place. 

You know we have so many nouveau riche here in Malta now and they think they are something because they don’t need to worry about the utility bills, but that doesn't make you better than the rest. Because of where I’ve come from, I can walk out and see the beauty in a sparrow. I grow trees as a passion, I don’t grow trees just to plant them but also in spite of - in the face of adversity you need to rise.  

Yes, very true.  

“Because of where I’ve come from, I can walk out and see the beauty in a sparrow. I grow trees as a passion, I don’t grow trees just to plant them but also in spite of - in the face of adversity you need to rise.” - Steve  

As a writer you have to be aware of the power that the pen gives you, and use it to say things in a fictitious way, but once you read them you realise that there is a great element of truth there. And this thread comes through in the 14 short stories that I am about to publish. Most people are so defensive that if you criticise the system, they take it personally - there will be many points to the stories which are meant to make us stop and think and realise our mistakes. You cannot always be offended, the moral of the stories is that I want the reader to enjoy that the “bad” guy loses. It’s only hypothetical that the “bad” guy is having a good life, if not by law then by some other external force, it will happen. Therefore, there are these heroes who know how to and atone justice, when there seems to be no justice around. It is cynical but there are also elements of humour - dry humour. If read carefully then you’ll find the humour. 

And to find the humour you can’t take it personally. 

Exactly. I write for people to read me, but at the same time, I want to respect the intelligent reader for understanding the level of writing. I don’t want to be writing something which is straightforward. I also made sure that the reader couldn’t foresee the ending.  

What do you feel are traits or values that we have carried, or that have remained quite resilient within us, as Maltese? 

Well up to today, look at the overdevelopment, there’s no sustainability at all. We were once more economical, they knew the value of money and they respected (if not the earth) they knew that the earth gave them something … 

And that has been lost. 

Totally. Look at the waste of land which is being used to build new properties, I wouldn’t even call them houses - I’m very cautious. Houses are meant to house families and people, this is a waste of land and it shows that there’s no strategic planning in its use. This is very personal when you know that the people here tilled every corner of soil to have some produce, and they even tilled in a field which could not be ploughed - so there would be an outcrop, called ‘il-bur’ in Maltese - they would excavate the outcrop to see how deep the soil is, fill it with soil and plant it with onion or garlic. So this irregular patch would still have a use. Today that spot might house the remains of a truck, or some other garbage because there’s no respect for the land. 

As Chairman of the new Inwadar National Park, my satisfaction comes from knowing that we have cleaned 1,000 tonnes of waste and it’s being well kept - so there are good measures. But overall the country is made up by not only the politicians but also the man in the street, and yet some of the latter still don’t invest in their knowledge. They invest in property because they think it has the value of gold, when actually you need to invest in your knowledge because that is a resource which no one can take from you.   

“They invest in property because they think it has the value of gold, when actually you need to invest in your knowledge because that is a resource which no one can take from you.” - Steve    

Talking with Steve was very inspiring and having a conversation in which you can feel a growth of mind and spirit is very rare and very humbling. There are so many people around us, who we know or possibly who we walk past on a daily basis, but never truly appreciate. I am very aware of the responsibility we have towards society and I can quote Steve here when he comments on the “power of the pen” and this is why I believe things need to be said as they are - also leaving space for our own perspective and biases of course, but we cannot allow ourselves to become soft and take offense for everything. That is not who we are and we shouldn’t allow who we are and what we’ve passed through be used as an excuse. I have taken much from this conversation to be able to apply to my own work and life ethic, but how about you reader? What can you take from this? Apart from the fact that we can both encourage travel and a trip to Madeira and strolls along their levadas! How about appreciating the smallest of details, the smallest of memories that can take you back to a moment in time. How about appreciating where we come from, what makes us Maltese, and questioning our values and ethics compared to those of our ancestors. How about never being ashamed of where we’re from [this is something I truly believe in] if your family was poor or not, has nothing to do with who they are/were and what they have given you. All aspects of what has happened to us as a people has made you - you.

“It’s the way you see things and express them - everything has to be calculated” - Steve 

Details 

Steve Borg: for more info look into maltaonlinebookshop.com/book_author/steve-borg/

The collection of short stories: out in the spring of 2021!

The 3rd volume of Il-Maltin: Għemilhom, Drawwiethom, Ġrajjiethom : out late 2021 - look out for more info!  

Simon Winchester: www.simonwinchester.com

Greenpeace international: www.greenpeace.org/international