Skip to main content

Miriam Calleja

Poet, author, literary consultant, storyteller, and certified proofreader.
Crafting words to connect and collaborate.

PublicationsAbout Me

About Miriam

Miriam Calleja is the bilingual author of poetry collections Pomegranate Heart (EDE Books, 2015) and Inside Skin (a two-book series in collaboration with a lith photographer, EDE Books 2016).

She has also been published in poetry collections Please Hear What I’m Not Saying (2018, editor Isabelle Kenyon), Poetic Potatoes (2018, a collaboration between Valletta 2018 and Inizjamed together with Leeuwarden 2018). Her work has been translated into Slovene in the collection Wara Settembru (2018, Slovene Writers Association).

She lives in Malta where she regularly facilitates creative writing workshops, literary salons, and poetry performances. Her poems have appeared in newspapers, magazines and anthologies, locally and internationally: The Sunday Times of Malta, Sentinel Quarterly, 63 channels, Degenerate Literature, The Bleed Typewriter among others. She has read at events in Malta, Berlin, London, and New York.

Miriam believes that poetry and prose are tools for storytelling that encourage unity. She has great faith in collaboration as a key to communication.

In 2015 she was shortlisted for a literary excellence award for her poem ‘Burying the Dark’, which has been published in an anthology by Magic Oxygen in the UK.

In 2017 she was recognised by the Network of Young Women Leaders as a leading female artist in Malta.

Upcoming projects for 2018 includes two community-devised projects for Orfeo & Majnun in collaboration with Valletta2018 Capital of Culture.

Poetry

You smell like a memory of the sea
And I remember which day
You swept me off my feet, but gently
A toe still drawing
Lines in the sand

You smell like a memory of the sea

When we first met
I asked you to write
Your story on my body
And through the bottom of bottles
You drew images of me
Always with two shadows

Your story on my body

Hi u taħsel it-tadam
u tagħmilhom ma’ mnifsejha
toħlom fuq in-nannu
meta kien jaħdem fil-ġnien
“Vitor” kien jgħajtilha
“agħmilli belgħa te, trid?”

Fil-kċina man-nanna

The background noise becomes apparent
The last coffee cup you’ve ever used in my kitchen
Crumbs of what used to be
I walk around discarded socks
In this museum of what you left behind
I’m allowed to touch
But it won’t be for a while

When you leave

dlam ħa nsibek
dlam ninkwieta li ma nsibek qatt
ninġabar għal-lejl twil
nitgħaxxaq bik
niftaħ it-twieqi biex jidħol id-dawl
u jidħol aktar dlam.

Bla tarf

Image credit: Zvezdan Reljic

Publications

Poetry Collections
Pomegranate Heart
Inside (as part of Inside Skin)

Anthologies
Wara Settembru (11 poems translated from English to Slovene)
Poetic Potatoes (1 poem translated from Maltese to English and Frisian)
Please Hear What I’m Not Saying (the poem ‘I once loved something dark’)
Magic Oxygen Literature Prize 2016 (the poem ‘Burying the dark’)

Online / In Print Magazines
‘Lost in the Zoo’ was published in Sentinel Quarterly
‘You are my island’ (short version) published in The Fringe Magazine
Several poems from Inside Skin published on The Sunday Times of Malta
‘We become strangers’ published on The Bleeding Typewriter
‘8.04pm’ published by Candlestick Press as a Highly Commended poem in the Cloud poem competition
3 poems published in Degenerate Literature

Things I can do for you

Crafting
words

Collaboration with artists, theatre/film directors or businesses. E.g. theatre / dance. Ghost writing or help with writing for individuals.

Reviews of food or restaurants. Reviews of performances. Samples of reviews (food-related, books, or arts/culture-related)

Creative writing workshops

Hone into your writing skills through exercises, prompts, and deadlines. Learn how to prepare pieces for submission. Groups are kept small to maintain intimacy.
Writing workshops can also be organised as an entertainment activity or ice-breaker between friends and colleagues.

Proofreading
English/Maltese

A proofreading service for English and Maltese text with an emphasis on precision and quality. Miriam is a Maltese proofreader certified by the Faculty of Arts, University of Malta.

Areas of specialisation include literature, healthcare, medicine, and food.

Performance / Entertainment

Performing of text, reading or acting in Maltese or English.

In conjunction with literary consultancy for your text, Miriam has experience with performing narratives, designing text to entertain (e.g. during dinners and soirèes) or educate (e.g. during site visits or journeys).

News & Events

27th October 2018
Orfeo and Majnun
Valletta
28-30th September 2018
Poetry on the Lake Festival
Orta San Giulio, Province of Novara, Italy
6th September 2018
Poetry Reading
Villa Frere, Pietà
February - July 2018
Creative writing workshops
Various Locations - Malta/Berlin
2nd, 3rd, 9th, 10th June 2018
No Man’s Land
Grand Harbour / Marsamxett Harbour
assorted color pensPoetryWorkshopsWriting
March 8, 2024

NEW: April Writing Challenge

Join me this April, National Poetry Month, for a writing challenge that will have you respond to a prompt a day for 30 days! How does it work? I've created…
PoetryPublished poetrytranslationWriting
December 11, 2023

Translation ‘backbone’ Highly Commended by Stephen Spender Trust

My translation backbone was Highly Commended for the prize and will be published by the Stephen Spender Trust in 2024! I recently sent a translated poem from my work-in-progress to…
CollaborationPoetry
September 15, 2023

Read Proximate Postcards I

Read an excerpt from a collaboration between Alina Stefanescu, Dylan Willoughby, and I, that was recently published on On the Seawall. Gratitude to editor Ron Slate for publishing our work!…

Get in Touch

    Name *

    Email *

    Contact Number

    Your Message

    Would you like to get some news from us?