Progress Press Co. Ltd, a member of Allied Group, walked off with two prizes during last night's National Book Awards held at the Mediterranean Conference Centre, Valletta.
The publisher clinched the first prize with the book The Cassandra Curse by Fiorella De Maria, in Category 1 Section II: Novels and Short Stories in Other Languages; and first prize for the book Paintings at the Mdina Cathedral Museum by Antonio Espinosa Rodriguez, in Category 5: Research.
Organised by the National Book Council, the awards attracted 166 entries, compared to 80 the previous year, which vied for the top prizes in six different categories.
Council chairman Gorg Mallia said that the quality of books has reached its best-ever stage of production, "so we need to weed out the ones that are not good, or at least help them become better".
The council has this year worked extremely hard to bring about change to the now renamed Literary Prize, which has been held since 1970.
Apart from introducing new categories, the council is also working on a quality charter, in the form of a manual, to serve as a guideline for authors and publishers in the drive for quality standards. This should be completed by the end of the year.
"At the moment it's a bit of a jungle out there. You do get some excellent works, but then there are some publications, which, for example, lack in illustrations," Dr Mallia said. He said that all the three judges chosen for every category and section were specifically selected for their specialisation in their field.
Discussing this year's awards, Dr Mallia said that for the first time the industry was invited to contribute to the prizes. Three of the categories were subsidised by the Malta Broadcasting Authority, Vodafone, and Joe Fenech.
The council will also be buying copies of the best five books in each category and donating them to public libraries. The aim of the council is to be reformatory and it has worked hard to introduce a number of changes. It is also in the process of setting up its website - www.ktieb.org.mt - that should be up and running next year. The site will eventually provide a one-stop shop for people who want to find out something on Maltese authors, including a list of published books.
The council also launched the Lifetime Achievement Award, which was last night awarded to 89-year-old novelist and poet Mikiel Spiteri, who writes under the pen name Kilin.
Meanwhile, Greta Borg Carbott clinched the Best Illustrator award for her work on two books Jien ma Nhobbx Naqra and Senduq Magiku.
Another two prizes were awarded to two publication houses for book presentation - PIN Publikkazzjoni Indipendenza for Album ta' l-Istorja, Partit Nazzjonalista 125 Sena Servizz by Martin Camilleri; and Midsea Books Ltd for Cronologia dei Gran Maestri dello Spedale della Sacra Religione Militare de S. Gio. Gerosolmitano e dell'Ordine del Santo Sepolcro Oggi Detti di Malta by John Edward Critien.
The prizes awarded in the six different categories are as follows:
Category 1: Literary Prose
Section I: Novels and Short
Stories in Maltese. First prize went to Meta Jdellel il-Qamar by Lino Spiteri, P.E.G.; while the second prize went to Kimika by Immanuel Mifsud, Klabb Kotba Maltin.
Section II: Novels and Short Stories in Other Language. The prize went to The Cassandra Curse by Fiorella De Maria, Progress Press.
Section III: Translations of Novels and Short Stories. The prize went to La Symphonie Pastorale by Toni Aquilina, Agenda.
Category 2: Non-Fictitious Prose
Section I: Non-Fictitious Prose. The first prize was not given. Second prize went to Drawwiet u Hajja mill-Istorja ta' Malta by Guido Lanfranco, Wise Owl Publications.
Section II: Prose of a Religious Nature. The prize went to Mulej, Mexxi l-Erwieh Kollha Lejn il-Genna by Anton Gauci.
Section III: Lifestyle. The prize went to Malta in World War Two by Albert Ganado, P.E.G.
Section IV: Translation of Non-Fictitious Work. The prize went to Fonti ghall-Hajja ta' San Frangisk by Noel Muscat, TAU.
Section V: Non-Fictitious Prose in Other Languages. The prize went to The Watercolours by John
Martin Borg, Midsea Books Ltd.
Section VI: Textbooks. The prize went to Klikk 3 by M. Montebello and C. Tabone, Klabb Kotba Maltin.
Category 3: Poetry
Section I: Poetry in Maltese. The first prize went to Mill-Blat Insawwar Holma, by Gorg Borg; while the second prize went to Gheluq by Victor Fenech.
Section II: Poetry in Other Languages. The prize went to Cracked Canvas by Maria Grech Ganado.
Category 4: Drama in Maltese
The first prize went to Bagalja Holm by Vincent Vella, APS Bank. The second prize was not awarded.
Category 5: Research
The first prize went to Paintings at the Mdina Cathedral Museum by Antonio Espinosa Rodriguez, Progress Press; while the second prize went to The Human Form in Neolithic Malta by Isabelle Vella Gregory, Midsea Books Ltd.
Category 6: Books for Children and Adolescents
Section I: Prose for Children. The first prize went to Jien ma Nhobbx Naqra by Joanna Cassar, Klabb Kotba Maltin; while the second prize went to Kieku Kieku by Trevor Zahra, Merlin Library Ltd.
Section II: Prose for Adolescents. The prize went to Sfidi by Trevor Zahra, Merlin Library Ltd.
Section III and IV were not opened.
Section V: Translations of Books for Children and Adolescents. The prize went to Enciklopedija ghat-Tfal by Pierre J. Meilak, Merlin Library Ltd.
Section VI was not opened.