Lara Calleja has become the first Maltese woman to be awarded the European Prize for Literature (EUPL) for 2021, the European Commission has announced.

Calleja won the prize for her book Kissirtu Kullimkien – an anthology largely focusing on mass construction in Malta and the uglification of rural and urban spaces. It was published by Merlin Publishers.

Calleja was awarded the prize alongside twelve other authors, each representing respective countries. Each of the authors, including Calleja, was announced during a video broadcast on Tuesday.

The EULP is aimed at celebrating the creativity and diverse wealth of Europe’s contemporary literary scene. It also encourages greater interest in non-national literary works.

The winners were selected by a national jury of experts who possess experience in the literary, publishing and bookselling fields.

The works of the winners are chosen on a rotation basis every year, whereby national juries in a third of the 41 countries that form part of the Creative Europe Programme select their winning authors.

In this way, all countries and languages are given an opportunity to take home the prize.

European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth Mariya Gabriel expressed her congratulations to the laureates who were awarded the prize.

“The immense value of literature is more apparent now than ever before”, she said. “Having lived under the shadow of Covid for more than a year, books have become ‘essential’. Congratulations to the laureates!”