At its annual Dissertation Seminar for undergraduates, the Department of Maltese awarded Premju Oliver Friggieri to Romilda Pace for her B.A. dissertation on the political figure in Oliver Friggieri’s poetry and Premju Ä użè Aquilina to Sara Kristina Abela for her study on the themes and lyrics of Maltese religious hymns.
The Dissertation Seminar was held on 16 February 2023, and brought together all undergraduate students and departmental full-time lecturers. It featured dissertation presentations by the award winning graduates, Romilda Pace and Sara Kristina Abela, and two other graduates, Mattea De Marco and Francesca Zammit, whose research was highly commended by the Department’s board of examiners.
Premju Oliver Friggieri and Premju Ä użè Aquilina were launched last year and are awarded to the students whose dissertations on literature and language obtain the highest marks. Apart from recognising the graduates’ high level of achievement, these prizes celebrate the contributions of Prof. Friggieri and Prof. Aquilina in their respective fields of study, thereby laying the foundations of the Department’s main research areas.
The steel trophy, in the shape of a ship’s rudder, rests on a base made out of Gozitan stone, and was designed and produced by the Gozitan artist Austin Camilleri. The two trophies were presented to the award winners by Dr Michael Spagnol, Head of the Department of Maltese.
