|
ORESTE CALLEJA
Born in Ħamrun, (Malta) Calleja
studied at the Lyceum and St.
Michael’s Training College for Teachers (1964-66). He left Malta in 1974
to study at the University of London, Birkbeck College, and then in 1990
he attended North Florida University, and Jacksonville University,
Florida, from where he obtained a BA in
Art and French.
Calleja was a committee member of the Moviment Qawmien
Letterarju in the
sixties. At the same time he started writing plays for the stage, radio,
and television. These include
Anestesija (1969), Għargħar
(1979), Ċens Perpetwu
(1969), Satira (1970),
Jum Fost l-Oħrajn (1970), En Passant (1970),
Iġsmaiħirsa (1970) and Għażiż Angelo (1971).
Before he emigrated in 1974, he published Erba’ Drammi
(1972) which is still used in secondary schools as a text in
Maltese literature. Since his return to Malta in 1991, he has written and published
three other plays, Għasfur taċ-Ċomb (1993),
Il-Belliegħa fil-Bir (1994) and U l-Anġlu
Ħabbar... (1995)
Calleja's success as a dramatist
is mainly due to his integration of the
realistic style with symbolic characteristics that make his plays
universal.
From Maltese Biographies of the Twentieth Century,
PIN
Publications, Malta, 1997.
NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS: 2002 and 2004
Other publications by Oreste Calleja include Il-Festa bil-Bandieri
(publ. 2002) and Pawlu Redux
(publ. 2004), both
winners of the National book award for drama for the respective years of
publication.
2015 - 2016 The ScreenPlays Series
In November 2015 Oreste Calleja published the first
two volumes of the Screenplays Series - SKART and 3 SILTIET
. The complete version of
GĦASFUR TAĊ-ĊOMB,
the complete screenplay, is scheduled for release in January 2016.
MORE: ....................................................
=====================================================
|
