Former Prime Minister and author Alfred Sant was given the lifetime achievement award for literature at the National Book Prize ceremony held on Thursday night.
The award-giving ceremony of the 2019 edition of the National Book Prize was held at San Anton Palace under the auspices of the President of the Republic of Malta, George Vella.
The winners
- Winning title in the category ‘Novels in Maltese and English’: not awarded
- Winning title in the category ‘Poetry in Maltese and English’: Maria Grech Ganado for Framed
- Winning title in the category ‘Short stories in Maltese and English’: Trevor Zahra for 365
- Winning title in the category ‘Literary non-fiction’: Marie Briguglio and Steve Bonello for No Man’s Land: People, Place and Pollution
- Winning title in the category ‘Translation’: Toni Aquilina for Passjoni Sempliċi
- Winning title in the category ‘General Research’: Steve Borg for Il-Maltin: Għemilhom, Drawwiethom, Ġrajjiethom; It-Tieni Volum
- Winning title in the category ‘Biographical and Historiographical Research’: Joseph M. Pirotta for Fortress Colony: The Final Act 1945-1964, Vol. 4 1961-1964
- Prize for best book production: Kite Group for the book Parallel Existences. The Notarial Archives: A Photographer’s Inspiration
- Poet Laureate: Maria Grech Ganado
- Best emerging author: Gioele Galea
- Lifetime achievement award for contribution to literature: Alfred Sant
In his opening speech, National Book Council (NBC) executive chairperson Mark Camilleri noted that this was the first time the National Book Prize Ceremony was held under the auspices of the President of the Republic.
While the NBC and the book industry have received unprecedented support from the Office of the Prime Minister over the past years, the latter’s implication at the end of 2019 in the investigation into the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia, and the council’s duty to safeguard the interests of its stockholders, led to the decision for the NBC to distance itself from the institution.
Camilleri remarked that, albeit not a writer of books, Caruana Galizia was a fellow writer, and her being killed because of her writing was an unacceptable state of affairs to say the least. In such challenging times, Camilleri appealed to the president to take up the very important role of a patron and champion of writers’ and publishers’ interests. The book industry and its writers remain a bastion of hope to address the challenges of fear, censorship, and political degradation, and therefore all the more of a reason to protect them.
Camilleri celebrated the high level of fiction and academic works competing for this year’s prize, congratulating all of those shortlisted.
The winner in the category ‘Short Stories in Maltese and English’ was Trevor Żahra’s 365 (Merlin Publishers). The winning title in the ‘General research’ category was Il-Maltin: Għemilhom, Drawwiethom, Ġrajjiethom; It-Tieni Volum by Steve Borg, published by Klabb Kotba Maltin. Fortress Colony: The Final Act 1945-1964; Vol. 4 1961-1964 by Joseph M. Pirotta (Midsea Books) won in the ‘Biographical and historiographic research’ category. Marie Brigulio and Steve Bonello won the category for Literary Nonfiction with No Man’s Land: People, Place & Pollution (Kite Group). Parallel Existences. The Notarial Archives: A Photographer’s Inspiration published by Kite Group won the Prize for Best Book Production. The prize for ‘Novels in Maltese and English’ was not awarded. Maria Grech Ganado won the first prize for poetry with her collection Framed (Merlin Publishers).
Having previously won the prize for poetry in 2000, 2006 and 2015, she was also the first recipient of the Poet Laureate Award. The Award for Best Emergent Writer went to Gioele Galea. The Lifetime Achievement Award, in recognition of an accomplished literary career and long list of publications including plays, short stories, novels, and non-fiction, was conferred on Alfred Sant.
Minister for Education Owen Bonnici congratulated all shortlisted and winning authors and remarked on the positive developments in the Maltese literary sector, particularly the growth of the Malta Book Festival. Bonnici encouraged writers to keep practising their craft, stating that they play a crucial role in the development of society, at once reflecting it, and in the process, shaping its future.
President Vella expressed his appreciation for the efforts made by Maltese authors and their talent and expressed satisfaction that publishers are supporting Maltese writers, while remarking that there has never been a time when so many Maltese books were being published as there are now.
The members of the jury who served on the adjudication board for the National Book Prize 2019 were: Prof. Yosanne Vella, Mario Ellul, Maria Giuliana Fenech for the categories ‘General Research’, ’Biographical and historiographic research’ and ‘Literary Nonfiction’; Kevin Saliba, Slavomir Ceplo and David Hudson for the categories ‘Novels in Maltese and English’ and ‘Poetry in Maltese and English’.