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19 LETTERS & EDITORIAL maltatoday | SUNDAY • 1 SEPTEMBER 2019 Mikiel Galea Letters & Clarifications National Book Prize: new trends THE adjudication board of the 2019 National Book Prize has been hard at work this summer to select the win- ning titles in the eight categories of the National Book Prize for Adults and the six categories of the Terramaxka Prize (National Book Prize for Children and Adolescents). The winners of the Terramaxka Prize will be announced on Tuesday 5 November at the official opening of the Malta Book Festival 2019. The winners of the National Book Prize will be announced at an award-giving ceremony that will be held at Auberge de Castille later this year. The 2019 shortlist for the Prize was released earlier this month and bears evidence of changes in trends that are worth noting. As compared to last year's eight shortlisted books in the 'Novels in Eng- lish and Maltese' category, only three works have been shortlisted this year. Two of them are by established writ- ers Clare Azzopardi and John Portelli, both making their debut in long-form fiction with page-turning murder mysteries – respectively Castillo and Kulħadd Barra Fajża. The third short- listed book, The Reluctant Healer, is by veteran author Lou Drofenik, who won the prize for novels two years ago, and will be also launching her new novel at the Malta Book Festival 2019. Unlike last year, the books in the 'Short stories' category outnumbered novels. One can find established au- thors in this genre, the likes of Trevor Żahra, Joe Friggieri and Lina Brock- dorff, but one should also look closely at Rita Saliba and John P. Portelli. The poetry category features only two titles, the English-language collection Framed by Maria Grech Ganado, and Louis Briffa's second Maltese poetry collec- tion Bil-Boqxiex. Only two books have been shortlisted in the new 'Literary non-Fiction' category: Rich-ard Eng- land's literary autobiography Chambers of Memory: Roaming the Mansions of Mnemosyne and No Man's Land: Peo- ple Place Pollution, by Marie Briguglio and illustrated by Steve Bonello. Another interesting feature concerns the high number of books shortlisted in the research categories ('General', and 'Biographical and Historiographic'), ranging on various themes, from Mal- tese culture, traditions and folklore, to history, football, art and literary criticism, as well as books on various Maltese and foreign public figures. One can notice that the shortlisted titles in the 'Biographical and Historio-graphic research' category were almost equally distributed among the two areas of research: six titles concerning historio- graphical research, and six biographies. These categories can also boast books with high quality pictures by renowned Maltese photographers, accompanying the thorough research material. All shortlisted original and translated works in the Terramaxka category are written in the Maltese language and show a steady increase in the quality and number of original and translated works published for children and adolescents in Malta. The shortlisted authors are in many cases established writers of children and young adult literature, but this year new illustrators and writers also feature in the shortlist. Year after year the shortlist provides a reliable guide to the best quality lit- erature published over the preceding year. All the books will be available for sale at the stands of the publishers and booksellers at the Malta Book Festival 2019, from 6-10 November 2019 at the Mediterranean Conference Centre, Valletta. Matthew Borg, National Book Council Fourth Gozo ferry AGEM strongly describes the introduc- tion of the fourth ferry with the exist- ent Gozo Channel fleet as a resounding success, which has positive effects on the everyday commuting of Gozitan employees working in Malta. Not only did the fourth ferry contrib- ute to reduce to the bare minimum the long car queues and the terrible traffic jams at Cirkewwa, but it also helped to reduce the actual travelling time of commuters to and from Malta. Hence, limiting the hardships experienced by Gozitan employees working in Malta. In addition, AGEM would also like to thank the extremely helpful and cordial crew staff of the Nikolaos ferry. AGEM also feels extremely satisfied with the current Gozo Channel time- table and the frequency with which all the four ferries are working. It is evident that in the drafting of the time- table the exigencies and the hardships of Gozitan employees working in Malta were taken into consideration. The latter helped to reduce significantly the 'waiting time' to and from Malta. Given the success experienced in these last months, AGEM questions the usefulness of the proposed tunnel pro- ject between Malta and Gozo. AGEM is kindly asking relevant au- thorities to publish all studies (once ready) related to the construction of the tunnel to ease scrutiny. Furthermore, AGEM believes that these studies should not only focus on the environmental and financial vi- ability of the project but also take into consideration the impact of having the fourth ferry operating on full-time basis. The revised Gozo Resident Workers subsidy and the Collective Transport subsidy helped alleviate some of the financial hardships faced by Gozitan employees working in Malta. We are strongly committed to continue working with all relevant authorities, especially the Ministry for Gozo, to continue to ameliorate the working conditions of all Gozitan employees working in Malta. AGEM, Gozo