Dr Arnold Cassola, who takes care of the participation of Malta in this competition, said that 'this is not only a great success for Adrian but also for Malta'. This year's edition was won by Scottish poet Kevin MacNeil with his book of poetry, Love and Zen in the Outer Hebrides (Edinburgh, Canongate 1998).
Adrian Grima participated with his bilingual book of poetry, It-Trumbettier (The Trumpeter), published by the author in February 1999. The book has 41 poems in Maltese translated into English by the poet himself and by Peter Serracino Inglott. It contains illustrations by Raphael Vella and Adrian Mamo; the latter also designed the cover and the book in general.
Adrian Grima translated fourteen of his poems in It-Trumbettier with the help of Patrick Sammut and Sandro Caruana. The Maltese and Italian versions of two of the poems, 'The Trumpeter' and 'We Who Splash Our Feet', were included in the anthology Lingue di Terra Lingue di Mare published by Mesogea in 1999. Four of the poems in It-Trumbettier were also published in the anthology Il-Poezija Maltija, edited by Oliver Friggieri.
Poets from all over Europe took part in this year's edition of the Prize. The jury chose ten finalists from Turkey, the Czech Republic, Galitia (Spain), France, Hungary, Serbia and Bosnia. Kevin MacNeil won first place with 71 points; Adrian Grima received 45 points; and third-placed Cécile Mainardi from France received 41 points.
The members of the jury of the Premio Tivoli Europa Giovani were Tullio De Mauro (pres.), Filippo Bettini (vice-pres.), Vincenzo Cerami, Ludovico Gatto, Armando Gnisci (coord.), Mario Lunetta, Giuliano Manacorda, Roberto Piperno, Alberto Scarponi, and Cristiana Muto (secretary).
The Tivoli Prize for young European poets chooses the best book of poetry written and published in the previous year in Europe by young people who are 36 years old or younger. Half the Prize money is awarded to the winner. The other half is used to restore sites and other objects of cultural value in a European country hit by poverty or war. A considerable amount of money is used to publish the winner's poems in ten different languages and also a selection of the finalists' works in their original language and in Italian. The first edition of the Prize held in 1998 was won by Miro Villar from Galitia, Spain. In 1999, the Prize was won by Tatsjana Milòva from Russia.
This year's prize-giving ceremony will be held at Villa Adriana, Teatro di Terme, on July 26 and will be presented by Paola Pitagora. During the evening, Giovannella de Luca and Pitagora herself will read some of the poems written by Kevin MacNeil and the other finalists.
Adrian Grima lectures in Maltese Literature at the Junior College and at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Malta. He has presented papers on literature and the Mediterranean at conferences in Malta, Italy and the United States. He is the coordinator of the mediterranean cultural initiative Inizjamed which he co-founded in 1998 and the author of a number of articles about culture and social commitment published in the local press. His website address is http://www.geocities.com/adriangrima/
10 May 2000