Author facing obscenity charges takes second prize at book awards

Education minister Dolores Cristina yesterday paid a strong tribute to books that challenged people’s boundaries without steering into any mention of the prosecution of Alex Vella Gera on charges of obscenity, who took second prize at the National Book Award.

Vella Gera yesterday shunned the awards in protest at the presence of the Prime Minister, claiming his party’s TV station Net had described him as a ‘promoter of paedophilia’ and that he would not attend a prize-giving ceremony attended by “a prime minister who leads a party that dictates such an editorial policy.”

Vella Gera's Zewg took second prize, while Mario Azzopardi, author of the  banned collection of short stories for  adolescents, Vampir, was awarded yet again in the category for adolescents by a jury chaired by Rev. Norbert  Ellul Vincenti. His book was not stocked in secondary school libraries.
 

Vella Gera is facing charges of obscenity for the short story Li Tkisser Sewwi he wrote for a university students’ pamphlet.

In her speech Cristina said books improved peoples’ lives, filled them with joy, enlightened their lives, wisdom and emotions and widened their horizons. “They challenge our boundaries… they give us oxygen and stimulate our lives. Printed media gives us access to different worlds of fantasy and creativity. They are the key to provocation. An excellent opportunity to stimulate us.

“Books are living actors in our civilization. The pages we read are ultimately the vestments of our stories and are one with our lives,” Cristina said.

Cristina had already expressed ‘serious concern’ at the announcement of legal proceedings against Mark Camilleri: the 21-year-old history student at the University of Malta, facing criminal charges for publishing Vella Gera’s ‘obscene’ short story in a campus newspaper. “I am genuinely and seriously concerned that matters have reached the stage where a 21-year-old University student faces these serious charges,” Cristina said when news broke of Camilleri’s impending prosecution over the latest issue of ‘Ir-Realta’. “I have no doubt that Mark Camilleri was not aware that his venture into editorship would land him in this quandary.”

In her speech on Thursday evening, Cristina said the National Book Award reflected the “altruism of those who reach out to the rest of society in its chronic apathy. Writers cannot be indifferent. They cannot be accomplices of compromise. Writers must be the country’s voice. The publishers give life to their dreams.”

The awards for books published in 2009 were as follows:

Literary Prose: Novels and Short Stories in Maltese

First Prize

Qed Nistennik Nieżla max-Xita, Pierre J. Mejlak, Merlin Library Ltd

Second Prize

45, Chris Gruppetta, Merlin Library Ltd

(and)

Żewġ, Alex Vella Gera (Self Published)

Prose Non Fiction

First Prize

Panoramic Malta and Gozo,Daniel Cilia, Book Distributors Ltd

Second Prize

It-Tifel tan-Nanna, Ġorġ Peresso, Horizons

Prose Non Fiction: Textbooks

First Prize

Il-Qari tal-Letteratura bejn Esperjenza u Kritika, Terence Portelli, Allied Publications

Poetry in Maltese

First Prize

Weraq Sfajjar fix-Xagħri, Maurice Mifsud Bonnici

Second Prize

Id-Demm Nieżel bħax-Xita, Adrian Grima and Karl Schembri, Edizzjoni Skarta

(and)

Bliet, Norbert Bugeja, Edizzjonijiet Emma Delezio

Poetry in Another Language

First Prize

Poesie, Poems, Poeżija, J.J. Cremona, Klabb Kotba Maltin

Works of Biographical and Historical Research in Maltese or in Another Language

First Prize

Jewellery in Malta, Francesca Balzan, Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti and Midsea Books

Second Prize

Baroque Painting in Malta, Keith Sciberras, Midsea Books

General Research in Maltese and English

First Prize

Edmund Teuma, Dan hu l-Islam, Taħriġ ta’ Tifsir, ĊAK

Second Prize

Exploring the Maltese Media Landscape,Joseph Borg, Mary Ann Lauri and Adrian Hillman, Allied Publications

Drama in Maltese

First Prize

Ħitan bil-Moffa, Joseph Vella Bondin, Bronk Productions

Second Prize

Ippermettili Nitlaq, Alfred Buttigieg, Klabb Kotba Maltin

Prose for Children

First Prize

Il-Każ Kważi kollu tal-Aħwa de Molizz, Clare Azzopardi, Merlin Library Ltd

Second Prize

Ir-Re Pankrazju jagħlaq Mitt Sena, Clare Azzopardi, Merlin Library Ltd

(and)

Id-Dar fi Sqaq il-Forka, Ivan de Battista, Klabb Kotba Maltin

Prose for Adolscents

First Prize

Il-Ġnien tad-Dmugħ, Simon Bartolo and Loranne Vella, Merlin Library Ltd

Second Prize

L-Aħħar Ġranet ta’ Ciorni u Stejjer Oħra, Mario Azzopardi, Merlin Library Ltd

Poetry and Drama for Children and Adolescents

First Prize

Paroli, Trevor Żahra, Malta Union of Teachers

Translations and Books in Another languages for Children and Adolescents

First Prize

Don’t Cross the Road, Holly/Taqsamx it-Triq, Fuxa,Rita Antoinette Borg

Special Prize for Translations in Maltese or in another language

First Prize

Il-Politika tal-Persważjoni,Charles Abela Mizzi, Allied Publications

Best Illustrator for Children’s Works

Mark Scicluna

Best Production in Maltese

Michael Schiavone/Outlook Coop Inservi, PIN

Best Production in Another Language

Joseph Mizzi, Baroque Paintings in Malta, Midsea Books

Special Lifetime Achievement prize for a person who has contributed greatly in the fields of Literature and Publication

Alfred Palma