Why weren’t the jurors’ names published as usual?
We made no conscious effort not to publish the list of jurors. In fact, during the prize giving ceremony, the list of jurors could be seen on the monitors behind the presenter when she thanked them.
Why are the jurors’ reports not made public?Wouldn’t it benefit the literary community to have an objective appraisal of every year’s contenders? Wouldn’t it increase transparency to know the reasons why individual books are awarded or not?
They are public insofar as the participants are concerned. Any participant (this includes both writers and publishers) can ask to see the report for his or her submission, and it will be given. But it would not be fair to release the reports for anyone to see. It is not fair on those who participate. If anyone of them would like to publish his or her report, they are very welcome to do so. The reports are kept by the Council for the individual participants. But they are not hidden as they can be accessed at any time by those about whom they are written.
How did the jury on the category for children’s prose justify awarding a booklet on Dun Ġorġ, which barely qualifies as a book? And why wasn’t such a publication included in the religious books category?
The way the system works is that participants can submit their books for any category they deem fit. Before the judges of each section analyse the books, a preliminary adjudication board made up of three people, goes through all books to see if they fit the category they have been submitted for. In fact, several changes are made each year by this board. Once a book passes through these two phases, then it is deemed to fit the category in which it now resides. The Dun Ġorġ book was deemed to fit its category, and the judges felt it was the best in that category. There is no religious books section in the children’s books category. The book was considered by all three of the judges to be a good example of what a children’s book should be like, with excellent pictures and a flowing style. Two judges gave high marks for it. One judge gave it a medium mark. But the total was still higher than any of the rest in the category.
I am told that it is hard to find jurors for the categories. Did you ask the government to start issuing payment for jurors?
No-one in the National Book Council gets paid. We volunteer our work because we believe in what we do, and hope we are making a difference. Jurors keep the books they examine, and get the gratitude of the Council. We would love to pay all those who contribute in this area, but money is limited, and what money we are given or manage to get goes towards the prizes and the buying of books from those who are eligible to then give to the public libraries to be read by the public. Malta is a tiny island and expertise is limited, so one usually refers to the same people. But the system we are using is one of rotation, normally overlapping with one judge, but trying to find new ones each time. Almost all of those we asked to be judges this year accepted at once.
How is the prose category won by an author who has been dead for the last 70 years? What kind of message does it impart about contemporary literature?
Logically I have my own opinion on a number of winners, but when acting as the chairman of the National Book Council, and of the executive committee of the National Book Prize, I keep that opinion to myself. All I can say is that all books that won a prize in each category got the most number of points collectively by the three judges in that category. This means that the Ġuzé Bonnici short stories collection got the largest number of points in its category. The book was edited by an editorial board, and I have no doubt that efforts were made by that board to present a book that had values for today’s reader. One judge criticised the presentation of the book, the other two felt that the book was a well-wrought tribute to a writer who has a place in the history of Maltese literature. As chairman of the board, I have no say in which books win. None. I just count the points given by judges that the Council entrusts with the task of evaluation, and the decisions of which are backed by it. However, this does not mean that the Council does not, in its subsequent evaluations, analyse whether certain decision made by it in the regards of judges’ choice for a particular section might not have been flawed. As I have had opportunity to say elsewhere, the prize is a work in progress.
Why are organisations and even constituted bodies allowed to participate with other authors’ works? (eg: Ġuzé Bonnici’s stories presented by L-Ghaqda Tal-Malti, and Storja Tinkiteb by the National Language Council last year)
Are you saying that anthologies of any kind should be barred from the National Book Prize? Why would you want that? Both books that you mention here, and which are very different from each other in comment, have been deemed best in their categories by the judges in question. Are you saying that we should artificially leave out valid books, so that less valid books should win? That is not the way the National Book Council operates. It goes out of its way to help identify works of contemporary literature that stand out, but it is also there to underscore all books that are valid and a contribution to the book scene in Malta.
In the latest Folju by the book council, it is stated that the awards are “a work in progress”. What are your plans for the next book awards? What kind of changes should we expect?
The National Book Prize has been a work in progress ever since its inception in its present incarnation. Regulations have been tightened, judging formats have been changed, and categories have been shuffled round according to present market considerations. The Council will gather all complaints and kudos and take them on board. We have never said no to valid suggestions, and whenever we have found that complaints have been justified in one way or another, we have acted to make sure that the instigation of the complaint was removed. This can be verified by those who have made such complaints or suggestions. Of course the Council avoids taking into consideration temper tantrums that explode after each and every prize by some interested party or other. We consider only serious complaints, and ones that are made through the right channels. We are trying to instil, wherever possible, an atmosphere of professional maturity, that is often belied by people who either win or else. Of course we also make mistakes. Who doesn’t? But we admit to them whenever they prove to be so, and do our best to eliminate the reason for them from then on. We shall do the same this year if we find that mistakes have been made. That is what taking our work seriously means.
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