Trevor Żahra (born 16 December 1947) is a Maltese novelist, poet and illustrator. He has published over 120 books in the

Maltese language Maltese (, also or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language derived from Siculo-Arabic, late medieval Sicilian Arabic with Romance languages, Romance Stratum (linguistics), superstrata. It is the only Semitic languages, Semitic language pred ...

since 1971.

Biography

Trevor Żahra was born on 16 December 1947 in

Żejtun Żejtun ( ) is a town in the Southern Region of Malta, with a population of 11,218 at the end of 2016. Żejtun is traditionally known as Città Beland, a title conferred by the grandmaster of the Order of the Knights of Malta, Ferdinand von ...

. He worked as a school teacher for over three decades, teaching

art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

and the

in government schools. He was married to Stella née Agius from 1971 until her death in 1989, and together they had two children called Ruben and Marija. In 1971 Żahra published his first novel, a children's

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

book entitled ''Il-Pulena tad-Deheb'' (Maltese for "The Golden Figurehead"). Since then he has published over 120 books written in Maltese. He has written both children's and adult novels, as well as short stories, poetry, workbooks and translations. He is the best-selling Maltese author in history. Żahra illustrates his children's books with his own drawings. He also designed a set of two EUROPA

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail). Then the stamp is affixed to the f ...

s for MaltaPost in 2001. Żahra has won multiple literary awards throughout his career, including Malta's national literary prize for a record 15 times. Books which have won prizes include ''Taħt il-Weraq tal-Palm'', ''Is-Seba' Tronġiet Mewwija'', ''Ħolm tal-Milied'', ''Lubien'', ''Taħt Sema Kwiekeb'', ''Provenz'' and ''X'Tixtiequ Jagħmel il-Fenek?'' He was also awarded the Midalja għall-Qadi tar-Repubblika on 13 December 2004. In 2020, Żahra was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award for Literature during the National Book Prize.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zahra, Trevor 1947 births Living people 20th-century Maltese poets 21st-century Maltese poets Maltese children's writers Maltese illustrators Maltese male poets Maltese male novelists Maltese schoolteachers Maltese stamp designers People from Żejtun Recipients of Midalja għall-Qadi tar-Repubblika 20th-century Maltese novelists 21st-century Maltese novelists Recipients of the National Book Prize