In the last edition of the National Book Prize, a number of Academics from the University of Malta each won prizes.
Prof. Ġorġ Mallia, Head of the Department of Media & Communications in the Faculty of Media & Knowledge Sciences won as editor of Il-50, in the short story section. The book is a collection of 24 short stories built around the number 50, commemorating its publisher, Klabb Kotba Maltin’s, 50th anniversary. A number of the authors in the book are also University of Malta academics.
Clare Azzopardi, who, apart from being a Senior Lecturer II at the Department of Maltese at the Junior College, is also one of Malta’s best authors, won two Terramaxka Prizes - the prizes for books for children and young adults. One was for #nohlomlixidarba, illustrated by Naomi Gatt, which won the Young Adult Literature section; and the other was for her translation of Mustaċċi jivvintahom, which won the section for translations for children ages 0-7.
Prof. Conrad Thake, an associate professor of Art and Art History at the Faculty of Arts, won the General Research prize for his Art Nouveau to Modernism: Architecture in Malta 1910-1950.
The Lifetime Achievement Award, awarded to those who have contributed massively to the book scene in Malta and Gozo, went to Professor Henry Frendo, for his countless historical publications.
The National Book Prize and Terramaxka Prize ceremony was held at MUŻA, the National Museum of Arts, on Friday November 4. The winning titles were selected by independent adjudication panels from a shortlist of 63 titles, published in the preceding year, across fourteen competitive categories: 43 books in the 8 categories for adults and 20 in the 6 for children and young adults (Premju Terramaxka).
We congratulate the winners.