Lara Calleja Becomes First Maltese Woman To Win Prestigious European Literature Prize
Writer Lara Calleja has won the European Prize for Literature 2021, becoming the first Maltese woman to win the prestigious prize.
Calleja won the prize with her anthology Kissirtu Killimkien (You Have Destroyed Everything) which consists of a number of short stories tackling the incessant over-construction that has affected people’s daily lives in Malta.
A number of political themes emerge throughout the stories, which are told through the lens of several narrators, including a cat who lost its owner and a traumatised migrant. However, from this cycle of construction and destruction, friendship can bloom, and Kissirtu Killimkien searches for hope amidst the rubble and a quest for change despite the uglification of the island.
Kissirtu Killimkien
Calleja joins nine other winners whose work will be circulated within Europe to a wider and international audience.
“This is a lifeline for the Maltese book industry that took its fair share of knocks during the pandemic,” said Elena Grech, Head of the European Commission Representation in Malta.
“The European Prize for Literature is an indispensable platform for emerging writers, especially for the literature of smaller countries, and immediately offers the possibility for translation, publishing and networking, in order for the literary work to start moving beyond our shores. We warmly congratulate Lara Calleja for her superb achievement,” she said.
This year’s winners were selected by 13 national juries, composed of authors, publishers and booksellers.
In addition to her award-winning short story anthology, Calleja was also commissioned to write her first-ever theatrical script last year for her play Taralalla, which will be staged at Spazju Kreattiv in October 2021.
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