Commonwealth Writers' Prize appointment

DR STELLA BORG BARTHET, senior lecturer in the Department of English, Faculty of Arts, has been appointed on the three-member jury panel of the Eurasian region for the 2006 Commonwealth Writers' Prize.

This is the second time that the Commonwealth Foundation has picked appointees from the Department of English of the University of Malta. Earlier this year, Professor Daniel Massa chaired the pan-Commonwealth panel, the prize winners for 2005 being announced during the conference dinner of the European Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies.

The Commonwealth Foundation set up the Commonwealth Writers' Prize in 1987 to encourage and reward writers from the Commonwealth and to ensure that works of merit reach a wider audience outside the country of origin.

For the purpose of this very prestigious prize, the Commonwealth divides into four regions: Europe and Asia; South East Asia and the South Pacific; Africa; the Caribbean and Canada. Dr Borg Barthet and the other jurors on the four panels will read and judge the novels entered in two categories, Best Book and Best First Book. Of the eight regional winning entries, the final judging panel will pick the best in the two categories.