National Book Prize 2023 – Applications are open

The National Book Council is pleased to announce the call for submissions for the National Book Prize, including the Terramaxka Prize for children and young adults (for books published in 2022). The National Book prize is the highest literary award given to authors, editors, translators, publishers and illustrators for books published in Malta during the preceding year, and serves as the benchmark of excellence for Maltese publications. 

Eligible titles published in 2022 with a Maltese ISBN can be submitted in one of the fourteen categories of the Prize. A board of independent adjudicators will evaluate the submissions and determine the eligibility of each entry. This process will result in the publication of a longlist, followed by a shortlist in June. As of this edition, the adjudicators will be allowed a longer adjudication period. The winners of the National Book Prize will be announced during the award-giving ceremony to be held on 24 November.

The National Book Prize is accepting applications in eight categories for books for adults – Novel, Short Story, Poetry, Drama, Literary Non-Fiction, Translation, General Research, and Biographical and Historiographic Research; and six categories of the Terramaxka Prize – Original Works for Children ages 0–7, 8–12 and Young Adult Literature, as well as Works in Maltese Translation for Children ages 0–7, 8–12, and Young Adult Literature in Maltese Translation. All categories are open to publications in the Maltese and English languages with the exception of categories for translations into Maltese. The National Book Prize also awards special prizes for Best Book Production for both adult and children books, Best Emergent Writer, Lifetime Achievement Award, and Poet Laureate to two-time recipients of the National Book Prize for Poetry.

The parameters regulating the Poet Laureate award are now part of the National Book Prize regulations, and the publication of the first anthology of the poet awarded this title will be funded by the National Book Council, with its launch to be held under the patronage of the President of the Republic of Malta.

Only one prize may be awarded per category, and prizes will only be given in categories where the shortlisted titles meet a high standard of literary, cultural, or academic merit, with a minimum score of 90%.

The prize money awarded in each National Book Prize category, including the special prizes, is €4,000. The only exception is the prize money for the translation categories of the Terramaxka Prize, which is €2,000.

The National Book Prize regulations, online application form and evaluation criteria can be accessed here on the National Book Council’s website.

To apply, applicants must submit the completed online form and send four physical copies of the book to the National Book Council by not later than 7 March at noon. Late entries will not be accepted.

Book deliveries are received at the National Book Council offices from Monday to Friday from 08:00 till 16:00. For any queries email Michael Mercieca on michael.mercieca@gov.mt

National Book Council
Bice Mizzi Vassallo Complex
Arnheim Road
Pembroke PBK1776