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Acclaimed Maltese poet, author and academic Prof. Immanuel Mifsud wins prestigious 2026 Homer European Medal of Poetry and Art

The University of Malta community is celebrating an international recognition for one of its own, as acclaimed Maltese poet, author and academic Prof. Immanuel Mifsud has been awarded the prestigious .

Prof. Mifsud was formally presented with the medal by Dariusz Tomasz Lebioda, President of the European Medal for Poetry and the Arts, during a ceremony attended by Arts, Culture and National Heritage Minister Malcolm Paul Agius Galea and Arts Council Malta Executive President Luke Dalli.

The medal marks a significant achievement not only for our ½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ community, but also for Malta’s literary community, and the European literary community at large, while recognising Prof. Mifsud’s contribution to contemporary European literature.

One of Malta’s leading contemporary literary voices, Prof. Mifsud is the recipient of numerous national and international awards, including the European Union Prize for Literature in 2011. He has also won several National Book Awards for his poetry and prose and was appointed a Member of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Malta in 2013.

His work has been translated into several languages and published internationally, further contributing to the visibility of Maltese literature beyond Malta’s shores.

Prof. Mifsud is an Associate Professor in the Department of Maltese within the Faculty of Arts. He has been part of the University of Malta’s academic community since 1995, when he joined the Department of Maltese at the Junior College as a lecturer. He subsequently taught at both the Faculty of Education and the Faculty of Arts.

His teaching and research focus on Maltese literature, theatre and literary theory, with particular research interests including the body in literature, the gaze, masculinity, and the relationship between the city and literature. He obtained his PhD from the University of Malta in 2012, with a thesis examining body imagery in twentieth-century Maltese poetry.

Prof. Mifsud is one of two authors to receive the 2026 award, alongside Syrian-Kurdish poet Salim Barakat.

Speaking to local media, Prof. Mifsud said that receiving the medal brings with it an even greater sense of responsibility for what he shares with readers through his writing.