Nadia Mifsud

Nadia Mifsud is a Maltese poet, author, translator, and teacher based in France. 

Mifsud started writing poetry early on in her life. She describes it as an instinct, something that came naturally to her. She temporarily lost sight of poetry, prioritizing mastering the French language in her pursuit of moving to France, but eventually regained that connection when poetry came back to her, as she expresses it herself. 

Nadia Mifsud has published three books of poetry and one chapbook. Her second publication, Kantuniera ’l bogħod (2015), examines feminist themes such as woman- and motherhood, as well as living abroad as a Maltese person. For this collection, she was awarded the National Book Prize: Poetry in 2016, and again in 2022 for her latest book of poetry, Varjazzjonijiet tas-Skiet (2021). In 2022, she was also named Malta’s third Poet Laureate. Next to her poetry she has published a novel, Ir-rota daret dawra (kważi) sħiħa (2017) and a collection of short stories, Żifna f’xifer irdum (2021), which were shortlisted for the National Book Prize in 2018 and 2022 respectively.

As a member of the cultural NGO Inizjamed she has been involved in the organization of the Malta Mediterranean Literature Festival since 2011. Among others, she has translated Immanuel Mifsud’s novel Fl-Isem tal-Missier (u tal-Iben) (French: Je t’ai vu pleur). Her own work has been translated into several languages, including English, Croatian, Polish, German, and Malayalam.