An international adjudicating board of prominent writers from different countries have chosen Oliver Friggieri as the winner of the fourth Premio Internazionale Trieste Poesia.
This prestigous award is granted to international writers in recognition of their general contribution to poetry, namely in terms of their published books and other publications outside their own country. The event took place recently in Trieste and was covered by the Italian press and RAI 3.
The official ceremony, held at the famous Caffè Tommaseo, which was packed to capacity, was presided over by Dott. Adriano Doronzo, President of Anthares, and Professor Gaetano Longo, whereas actors from Teatro Verdi of Trieste, Francesca Tesio and Federico Betti, gave a choreographic interpretation of some of Oliver Friggieri's works.
Actor Francesco Drigo recited a number of the author's poems in Italian version, all chosen from the book just published for the occasion of the prize giving ceremony, Sotto l'ombra degli occhi. The author delivered a short speech and recited some of his poems. The provincial alderman for culture, Guido Galetto, formally welcomed Professor Friggieri at the town hall.
The prize was awarded to Oliver Friggieri in recognition of his numerous books published in translation in various languages throughout the world. His poetry has been translated into 16 languages, including English, French, Italian, Urdu, Greek, Mace-donian and Romanian. Professor Longo read the motivation by the international adjudicating board of writers.
Part of this reads: "The Promoting Committee of the Fourth Trieste International Poetry Prize, which every year awards a poet of world fame, has decided, for the year 2002, to assign this recognition to the Maltese poet Oliver Friggieri, author of an important lyrical production which inserts itself, within the context of contemporary world poetry, in a position of specific originality.
"Friggieri's poetry adhers to the classical model and nourishes itself from the contemporary atmosphere. It is modern poetry which does not ignore tradition, but nurtures itself on archetypes and grows within the framework of the great poetry of our times." Among other things the statement adds: "With his works Oliver Friggieri has put his country on the map of contemporary world poetry".
Previous poets who have been granted this award are Nobel Prize candidates Justo Jorge Padron (Spain, 1999), Alvaro Mutis (Colombia, 2000) and Mateja Matevski (Macedonia, 2001). They all formed part of the international panel which selected Oliver Friggieri.
Professor Friggieri, Head of the Department of Maltese at the University of Malta, is the author of numerous books. Selections of his works have been translated into various languages and 30 of his books have been published abroad. He has addressed over 70 international congresses in foreign countries, and his poems and scholarly articles have been published in literary and academic journals throughout the world, especially in Europe and America.
Recitals of his works have been held in European cities, including Paris, Vienna, Thessalonika, Murcia, Rome, Neuchatel and Lisbon. He has received various other international prizes, including the Premio Internazionale of Palermo in 1988, when Eugene Ionescu was also honoured.