Dr Carmel Mallia recently received the honorary title of Cavaliere di Sicilia at the Hotel Parco Augusto, Terme Vigiatore, province of Messina, Sicily.

Dr Mallia, who is also a member of the Esperanto Academy, is one of the judges (the only non-Italian) who adjudicates at the yearly poetry competition in Italian and Esperanto, organised by the Federazione Sicilia Esperantista – led by Prof. Giuseppe Campolo of Messina. This yearly competiton is called ‘Poesia da tutti i cieli/Poezio el ĉiuj ĉieloj’.

During the conferment, Dr Mallia read a paper on the importance of poetry and on his Esperanto literary works, both original and translated.

He is currently translating poems by Maltese poets to appear on the renowned literary review in Esperanto, Literatura Foiro (Literary Fair), published in Switzerland. This will eventually lead to a third anthology of Maltese poems in Esperanto.