Part 1: A brief history of self-publishing in Malta

by MJ Tolu

In preparation for our series of blogs on Exploring Zine Culture in Malta: A Conversation with Local Creators, we found almost no information about the history of zine-making in Malta. Changing our keywords to “self-publishing” also did not yield much more, so we reached out to academics and historians to hear what they had to say about the history of the self-published medium in Malta.

First up was Dr. John Baldacchino, a professor of arts education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, an artist, and an author. “We used to do it before the internet was even a concept.  Now I realize we did the equivalent of <zineing>,” he explained. Dr. Baldacchino worked on a few “zines” in the 80s, with titles like L-Għodwa, il-Pitazz [author’s note: il-Pitazz was a supplement of L-Għodwa], leaflets, and “other self-published stuff for socialist and communist youth in Malta”.

This was at a time when there were very few resources available, much fewer any how than we have now. Working on these zines was about collaboration, and Dr. Baldacchino would team up with like-minded activists at the time, like Professor John Chircop and Professor Carmen Sammut, as well as Charles Miceli from it-Torċa/il-Ħsieb, a political newspaper, for whom he wrote and drew cartoons.

“Strangely, I started my zines as a Postulant with the Carmelite order! I used to edit and design the Carmel Echo! All self-published.” Now a professor of arts education, Dr. Baldacchino continues to be engaged with zines, encouraging students to make zines and use this medium to submit their own University work. 

Professor Carmen Sammut, Pro-Rector at the University of Malta, and a Professor in Media and Communications, invited us to check out the archive of L-Għodwa held at the Melitensia section of the University of Malta library. 

L-Għodwa, “publikazzjoni awtonoma" (autonomous publication) was sold for 10c, and four editions from February to September 1987 can be found at the library. They’re printed in 2 colours, A4, 16 pages, featuring articles, poetry, photos, and illustrations. The issues, all in Maltese, focus on workers’ rights, women’s rights, inviting letters from readers, and other contributions. The design is a collage style, the font is typewriter style, and there are many overlays of image and text, as well as hand-drawn and hand-written elements.

We also reached out to Mark Camilleri, a historian and journalist who recalls zines existing in Malta but feels they "stopped existing" for a long time. What was available was more “attributed to the punk or activist scene when activism, music and culture were more DIY and less sophisticated,” he expressed. Camilleri worked as an editor for Ir-Realta', a student-led newspaper that from the get-go was printed at an industrial printing press. “It came during a time when the punk scene was ebbing and activism was becoming more sophisticated,” he adds.

While Camilleri claims that Ir-Realta' was more of a newspaper than a zine, its visual style seems to borrow a lot from what is traditionally considered ‘zine style’ using collage, sketches, non linear formatting and so-on. 

Looking at L-Għodwa and Ir-Realta’ side by side at the library does give a sense of synergy. There are certainly elements at play in both publications that could tie them to be defined as zines, including: punk-anarchist content; visual style coherent with zines of the time; collaboration between several artists; and being self-published. 

The editions of Ir-Realta’ that we leafed through at the University of Malta Library were designed by Elisa von Brockdorff and Steven Scicluna, who both remain active in the arts scene, so we reached out to them to learn more about their design process. 

While being aware of zines at the time, Steven Scicluna never thought of the publication as a zine, but rather as an underground/DIY newspaper. He comments that the design was influenced by various factors, including his sympathies for anything anti-establishment at the time, his work as a graffiti artist, in bands, and leftist groups. “DIY was the buzzword at the time and post-punk was back. They were exciting times for young rebellious peeps.”

Steven comments that “The best thing about ir-Realta is that I had complete creative freedom. I did everything from the illustrations to the layout design to article naming and spellchecking. It was hard work as so much of it was done manually (plus it was also unpaid work), but I loved doing it for a while as it gave me a place where I could experiment on real briefs and later see it in print. As an angry young fella it was also super fun having the chance to create something that mocked Maltese society at the time. I gave up after 4 editions as I couldnt keep up, but it was fun while it lasted.“

On the contrary, Elisa Von Brockdorff wasn’t really aware of zine culture or zines. “I do think that the DIY/punkish aesthetic might have been due to a couple of factors: firstly my graphic design skills were quite basic and I was learning as I went along - so the design was raw and somewhat simple. At the same time I had just finished my course in Fine Art, where I had been actively working on collages, so this in turn probably influenced the graphic design aesthetic too.“

Back to the present, Mark Camilleri remains a bit of an “anachronism”, as he’s returned to self-publishing despite opportunities with other publishers, building up his own publishing house, Dar Camilleri, which is also publishing different authors and has a media outlet, The Maltese Herald. He reflects that the reality is usually rather the opposite, with authors choosing to self-publish due to limited opportunities. 

Camilleri hopes to see more young people and students engage in self-publishing, including zines and student newspapers, as a stepping-stone into industrial and professional publishing. “Publishing is a dying industry as long as people don't practice it,” he concludes.

Exploring Zine Culture in Malta: A Conversation with Local Creators

il-lokal is supporting a growing community of local artists and creators experimenting with zines and self-publishing as a form of self-expression, activism, and art. In this series, we search for the hidden history of zines in Malta, explore zine culture with contemporary zine-makers, and lay down the foundations for zines to come! 

We thank Dr John Baldacchino, and Mark Camilleri for taking the time to talk to us about ‘self-publishing’ in Malta in the past; Prof. Carmen Sammut for reminding us of the existence of the Melitensia archives at University of Malta library; designers Elisa von Brockdorff and Stephen Scicluna; and all the makers who engaged in conversation with us about their craft: Al Siew, Aprille Zammit, Il-Beżżul Bieżel, David Schembri, Martina Farrugia, Michelle Gruppetta, Noah Fabri, Steffi Venturi, and Suzanne Maas.

Part 1: history | Part 2: introduction to zines | Part 3: the future | Part 4: make your own!