The winners of the 2020 Doreen Micallef National Poetry Contest were announced and read on the evening of Friday 13 November in a ceremony presented by actress Coryse Borg which streamed during the Malta Book Festival.

Out of the 47 submissions entered for this yearโ€™s contest, Klara Vassalloโ€™s poem โ€˜Dokumentazzjoni tal-Minuti Mnikkra Fikโ€™ has been chosen as the winner of the Contest, winning her โ‚ฌ1,000. The jury for this second edition were the three poets Dr Immanuel Mifsud, Nadia Mifsud and John Aquilina.

Klara Vassallo is the second and the youngest person to win the Doreen Micallef National Poetry Contest since it started. The contest bears the name of the author of a confessional collection of poems of spiritual and romantic yearning, active since the times of the Movement Qawmien Letterarju. In Vassalloโ€™s poem, Nadia Mifsud praised โ€œa form thatโ€™s beyond expectations, modern writing, very good rhythm, an effective blend of longer and shorter versesโ€ฆ and interesting imageryโ€, which made it the best submission.

The second prize was awarded to Louis Briffa with the poem โ€˜Tgฤงix Irridekโ€™. The third prize went to Jesmond Sharples for his poem โ€˜Fโ€™Postiโ€™.

The National Book Council Executive Chairman Mark Camilleri congratulated the winners and encouraged aspiring writers to keep writing, while commending all applicants for the courage in bringing their work forward. He added that the Contest, named after a pioneer of Maltese feminist writing who failed to receive due appreciation in her lifetime, keeps aspiring for high literary standards such that it is able to accentuate Maltese poetic writing in all its forms.

The Doreen Micallef National Poetry Contest is an annual contest, open to poets of all ages which awards a single original and unpublished poem in the Maltese language of no longer than 36 lines, in an anonymised judging process. The call for submissions opened in June 2020.

The National Book Council thanks those who submitted poems for the Contest and the members of the jury for their work. The next edition of the Doreen Micallef National Poetry Contest opens in June 2021.

The full results can be accessedย here.

First Prize

dokumentazzjoni tal-minuti mnikkra fik by Klara Vassallo

12.00am tektik. nifsijiet skaduti.

12.14am is-sekondi gฤงajjiena. gฤงajjejthom. ฤกieli jaqbลผu tnejn.

12.28am forsi niddendel miegฤงek. jew fik.

12.32am immiss il-feriti li ฤงallejtli int. nadurahom.

gฤงax baqgฤงu fija iลผjed milli bqajt int.

12.45am forsi issa ninฤงabbu mas-skiet. skiet iswed. mal-kliem li gฤงeb. kollox jgฤงib. kollox.

01.02am qisu tiegฤงek dad-dell. ifakkarni fik. ikkalibrat. inkubat. ikkundanat.

01.03am bija. vizzju ikrah, int. hekk kont. hekk int. hekk tibqaโ€™.

01.11am niblaโ€™ l-pirmli tโ€™ismek. zolpidem. nifgaโ€™. jeฤงlu hemm.

il-bลผieq opak-virulenti u misbul jiลผลผerลผaq maโ€™ geddumi.

l-istess bฤงal meta mort fejn ฤงadtni u biestni u togฤงmtok ฤงaj fโ€™ฤงalqi.

01.39am ad infinitum.

02.00am inwerลผaq fl-imฤงadda. jew mingฤงajrha. jew taฤงtha. jew mgฤงallqa fiha.

02.01am inลผaqลผaq. meta naqbad l-imqass u naqtaโ€™ l-karti fi qlub ลผgฤงar – niลผvinahom.

02.14am jien nafek. nafni. nafni jien. taf int? li nixtieq inbuslek kitfejk. ฤกwenฤงajk li qatt ma tfasslu.

02.30am leฤงnek idur fl-aฤงฤงar ลผbalji tiegฤงi. fl-intriฤ‹ฤ‹i tagฤงna, jew dawk li ฤงloqtilna.

02.31am se tispiฤ‹ฤ‹a fix-xejn. dalwaqt. nispiฤ‹ฤ‹a. nispiฤ‹ฤ‹aw – mgฤงammda mid-dwejjaq.

02.35am mingฤงalija li kien hawn is-skiet sakemm kien hawn is-skiet. it-twerลผiqa tiegฤงek staฤกnata fil-ฤงajt.

02.39am idejk ฤกabu s-skiet. u d-dlam jgฤงajjat miegฤงu. kollox tiegฤงek kien. sakemm ma kienx.

02.45am se tispiฤ‹ฤ‹a. int biss. tgฤงum fโ€™ilma ebbanu w tempestuลผ. hawn ฤกismi. hawn jien;

02.47am biex ลผลผarmah-tadurah-tinkaxxah fi kliemek. kliemek sabiฤง. nixorb u nisker bih.

02.50am ฤงallih sagฤงtejn oฤงra hawn kliemek, biex inลผarmah-nadurah-ninkaxxah. fija. fik. fina.

02.53am xejn ma naf minnek. tiฤกi u titlaq. qisu qatt ma konna. niblaโ€™ l-pinnoli tโ€™is mek. rozerem.

02.55am insoffok, kieku nistaโ€™. bฤงal mโ€™ommok tgฤงid li kont tagฤงmel.

02.56am erbaโ€™ minuti oฤงra fadallek sa ma titmermer fโ€™ittri. tiฤกrix iลผjed. mโ€™hemmx gฤงalfejn tgฤงodd iลผjed.

02.57am disgฤงa sebgฤงa ฤงamsa tlieta wieฤงed.

02.58am gฤงoddni. imma jien qatt mhu se nkun biลผลผejjed numri.

02.59am 10mg. dejjem. zolpidem/rozerem. rajthom?

jirrimaw il-pirmli tโ€™ismek. poeลผija li traqqadni, ismek. gฤงanja li ฤกฤกennini, ismek.

xi darba kien. tiegฤงi. tiegฤงek. tagฤงna. ismek.

03.00am jiฤกi jลผurni l-ฤกenn. taโ€™ meta nkun ฤกo fik.


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