Maltese writer and performer Davinia Hamilton has been awarded the Booker Prize Foundation Scholarship, earning her a spot to pursue an MA in Creative Writing at the prestigious University of East Anglia (UEA).

Each year, the Booker Prize Foundation selects one writer of exceptional promise to join UEA’s internationally respected Prose Writing course – a programme that has shaped some of the biggest names in contemporary literature. We’re talking alumni like Nobel Prize winner Kazuo Ishiguro, Booker Prize winner Anne Enright, and literary heavyweight Ian McEwan.

‘I am so honoured to receive the Booker Prize Foundation Scholarship,’ Davinia shared. ‘It allows me to focus on developing my work, which always seeks to situate Maltese stories within a wider literary field.’

And she’s already been doing exactly that! Davinia’s acclaimed play Blanket Ban, co-written with Marta Vella, has been staged both locally and internationally, and scooped up multiple awards, including the Edinburgh Untapped Award and a Social Cause Award at the Premju Għall-Arti.

Her poetry chapbook i cannot speak it but it comes was published by EDE Books, and her writing has appeared widely across both digital and print platforms.

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More recently, Davinia has also contributed a monologue to the upcoming production Her Say III, directed by Charlotte Grech, which will take to the stage at Spazju Kreattiv in Valletta from March 6th till the 8th.

The Booker Prize, established in 1969, remains one of the most prestigious literary awards in the world, spotlighting writers whose work demonstrates exceptional artistry and originality. To be selected by members of UEA’s Creative Writing department in collaboration with the Booker Prize Foundation is no small feat. Indeed: Davinia Hamilton is one to watch.

Congratulations Davinia!