I’ve always felt that the Maltese language is a rough one. When spoken it’s has a guttural feel and no less better when written, even when using the more polite forms there still an underlying brutality. However Nadia Mifsud has proved me wrong. All the stories in Żifna f’xifer irdum ( literal translation: Dancing on a Cliff Edge) are beautifully written; this is prose which envelopes you in it’s beauty, each word, expression has it’s own special place. The sentences just flow and coil around the reader like a boa constrictor. Nadia Mifsud is a poet and that rhythm is present here.
by Robert Pisani
Thankfully these stories support the writing. As the title suggest the majority of these characters are women who are living dangerously or are prepared to take risks: There are a lot of highlights, opener Xorta! ( a word that has many meanings but in this case it’s doesn’t matter) is about a male who dumps potential girlfriends who are indecisive, only to fall into the same trap, Tixqiq (Fissures) is a sordid tale of physical and psychological abuse, Requiem is about someone remembering anecdotes about her dead mother, while experiencing a funny situation and at a loss who to tell it to. Teddy refers to a teddy bear, which ends up being a metaphor for a child who is gone.
A lot of the stories in this collection are circular, by this I mean that they start at point A and end at Point A , Barmil tal-art (The Bucket) is a perfect example, Merry-go-round as well, although that one takes a dark turn and the aforementioned Xorta.
Nadia Mifsud, although has an elegant style, does not mince words and dark themes and twists populate these pieces. Another favourite is Il-MoMA, in which a man visits the famous titular museum and through some playful teasing finds himself sleeping with a beautiful woman. At first the language makes us think that this is a nebbish single man whose dreams have come true and then the twist hits and our feelings towards this character change immediately via one sentence. Males do not come off lightly in this collection but, honestly, who cares – these stories are absolutely brilliant and it’s easy to be immersed.
I can heap more praise but really just read these stories. Utter perfection.
This review was first published on The Bobsphere on 31 December 2022.
https://thebobsphere.wordpress.com/2021/12/23/nadia-mifsud-zifna-fxifer-irdum/
