Sharon Bezzina reads from Il-Linja l-Ħadra by Clare Azzopardi.

Actress Sharon Bezzina reads the short-story ‘Jelly Babies’ from from Il-Linja l-Ħadra, a collection of original short-stories which includes a few that were originally published in English.

Characterised by a unique narrative strategy, Clare’s prose is yet imbued with the ostensive familiarity of the subject matter. She manages to tell unpredictable stories by avoiding excessive stylisation and depicting the normal people living at the turn of the 21st century. Author Immanuel Mifsud commented: “Readers about to tackle [Il-Linja l-Hadra] should be prepared. In these stories, the familiar begins to seem strange, and the strange becomes familiar. Clare Azzopardi will lead you to places where you shouldn’t dare to pry.”

About the author

Clare Azzopardi is an award-winning author who writes for both children and adults. With Inizjamed, she has coorganised literary festivals and workshops. Her work has been translated into several languages and has appeared in a number of collections. Her play L-Interdett Taħt is-Soddawas published in French and in Arabic. Her teenage novella Frape was published in Latvia and in Spanish in 2018. Azzopardi has also published two books of short stories for adults, both of which won the National Book Prize for Literature – Il-Linja l-Ħadra (‘The green line’) and Kulħadd ħalla isem warajh (‘The names they left behind’). Her latest publication is Castillo, a detective novel with a twist, a novel about gender, motherhood, and the reverberating and unresolved echoes of political violence past.

About the reader

Sharon Bezzina is a theatre actress moulded by passion and dedication. You’ll definitely have trouble with her if you can’t keep an appointment.

If you liked Il-Linja l-Ħadra check out the following by Clare Azzopardi:

Literature for adults - novels

Frejp (Merlin Publishers, 2012)

Castillo (Merlin Publishers, 2018)

Literature for adults - short-stories

Others, across (Inizjamed, 2005)

Għaraq Xort’Oħra (Inizjamed, 2013)

Literature for adults - non-fiction

L-Art tal-Kliem (Merlin Publishers, 2015)

Plays

L-Interdett Taħt is-Sodda (Merlin Publishers, 2010)

Literature for children

Il-Qtates ta’ Max-Xatt (Merlin Publishers, 2016)

Jissokta l-Każ tal-Aħwa Saver u Ludmilla Demolizz (Merlin Publishers, 2017)

Buy Il-Linja l-Ħadra here.

This episode is sponsored by the National Book Council.

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