2020 Doreen Micallef Poetry Contest Winners Announced

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 year’s contest, Klara Vassallo’s poem ‘Dokumentazzjoni tal-Minuti Mnikkra Fik’ has been chosen as the winner of the Contest, winning her €1,000. 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 Vassallo’s poem, Nadia Mifsud praised “a form that’s beyond expectations, modern writing, very good rhythm, an effective blend of longer and shorter verses… and interesting imagery”, which made it the best submission.

The second prize was awarded to Louis Briffa with the poem ‘Tgħix Irridek’. The third prize went to Jesmond Sharples for his poem ‘F’Posti’.

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Micallef National Poetry Contest is an annual contest, open to poets of all ages which awards a single original and unpublished poem in the Maltese language of no longer than 36 lines, in an anonymised judging process.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 accessed here.

First Prize

dokumentazzjoni tal-minuti mnikkra fik by Klara Vassallo

12.00am tektik. nifsijiet skaduti.

12.14am is-sekondi għajjiena. għajjejthom. ġieli jaqbżu tnejn.

12.28am forsi niddendel miegħek. jew fik.

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

għax baqgħu fija iżjed milli bqajt int.

12.45am forsi issa ninħabbu mas-skiet. skiet iswed. mal-kliem li għeb. kollox jgħib. kollox.

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

01.03am bija. vizzju ikrah, int. hekk kont. hekk int. hekk tibqa’.

01.11am nibla’ l-pirmli t’ismek. zolpidem. nifga’. jeħlu hemm.

il-bżieq opak-virulenti u misbul jiżżerżaq ma’ geddumi.

l-istess bħal meta mort fejn ħadtni u biestni u togħmtok ħaj f’ħalqi.

01.39am ad infinitum.

02.00am inwerżaq fl-imħadda. jew mingħajrha. jew taħtha. jew mgħallqa fiha.

02.01am inżaqżaq. meta naqbad l-imqass u naqta’ l-karti fi qlub żgħar – niżvinahom.

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

02.30am leħnek idur fl-aħħar żbalji tiegħi. fl-intriċċi tagħna, jew dawk li ħloqtilna.

02.31am se tispiċċa fix-xejn. dalwaqt. nispiċċa. nispiċċaw – mgħammda mid-dwejjaq.

02.35am mingħalija li kien hawn is-skiet sakemm kien hawn is-skiet. it-twerżiqa tiegħek staġnata fil-ħajt.

02.39am idejk ġabu s-skiet. u d-dlam jgħajjat miegħu. kollox tiegħek kien. sakemm ma kienx.

02.45am se tispiċċa. int biss. tgħum f’ilma ebbanu w tempestuż. hawn ġismi. hawn jien;

02.47am biex żżarmah-tadurah-tinkaxxah fi kliemek. kliemek sabiħ. nixorb u nisker bih.

02.50am ħallih sagħtejn oħra hawn kliemek, biex inżarmah-nadurah-ninkaxxah. fija. fik. fina.

02.53am xejn ma naf minnek. tiġi u titlaq. qisu qatt ma konna. nibla’ l-pinnoli t’is mek. rozerem.

02.55am insoffok, kieku nista’. bħal m’ommok tgħid li kont tagħmel.

02.56am erba’ minuti oħra fadallek sa ma titmermer f’ittri. tiġrix iżjed. m’hemmx għalfejn tgħodd iżjed.

02.57am disgħa sebgħa ħamsa tlieta wieħed.

02.58am għoddni. imma jien qatt mhu se nkun biżżejjed numri.

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

jirrimaw il-pirmli t’ismek. poeżija li traqqadni, ismek. għanja li ġġennini, ismek.

xi darba kien. tiegħi. tiegħek. tagħna. ismek.

03.00am jiġi jżurni l-ġenn. ta’ meta nkun ġo fik.