The National Book Council Welcomes a New Manager 

The National Book Council (NBC) is proud to welcome a new manager among its staff – Sephora Francalanza. 

Her appointment comes in the wake of another key development for the NBC. This month will also see the departure of its long-standing manager and ISBN Officer Michael Mercieca, who will be going into retirement. 

NBC Executive Chairperson Mark Camilleri took the opportunity to thank Mercieca for his long years of service, while also welcoming Francalanza into the fold – the latter of which joins the NBC this week. 

“Michael has been a crucial member of our team, pre-dating even my own tenure as chairperson by many years. A priceless pillar of institutional memory, he has always executed his duties with precision, integrity and care. As he now transitions into a much-deserved period of retirement, we at the Council can only salute a dear colleague whose sterling work has undeniably helped define the way that we operate and carry ourselves as an institution,” Camilleri said. 

He added that Francalanza will now be assuming many of Mercieca’s responsibilities, which include the administration of the NBC’s ISBN and ISMN service, as well as the Public Lending Rights (PLR). Francalanza will also be overseeing the NBC’s literary review programmes (both its ongoing Maltese initiative as well as new English-language avenues), as well as number of new responsibilities which arise out of the NBC’s Five-Year Strategic Vision (2025-2030), launched last year. 

No stranger to the local literary scene, Francalanza was very active in organising initiatives and events related to Maltese during her university years, through her role on the Committee of Għaqda tal-Malti – Università for four years. In the two years that she served as President of this student organisation, she also took up the role of Editor for two editions of Leħen il-Malti, the organisation’s annual publication. She went on to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Maltese (Hons.) and a Master of Arts in Translation and Terminology Studies, specialising in literary translation. She is a qualified proofreader, and is currently following a Master of Arts in the Interpretation of Maltese Literature.

She worked as a journalist with Newsbook for three years, and in 2023, she was awarded the Award for Best Use of the Maltese Language (Written) by the Institute of Maltese Journalists (IĠM). She moved to Luxembourg in 2021, where she worked as a translator with the European Parliament. In 2025, she relocated to Malta, where she worked for the European Parliament Liaison Office in Malta, whose purpose is to bring the work of the Parliament closer to Maltese citizens. 

In 2025, a story which she translated was published in the anthology of short Uzbek stories translated into Maltese, Rakkonti mill-Bogħod: Stejjer Qosra mill-Użbekistan, a collaborative project between the University of Malta and the National University of Uzbekistan.

“We are thrilled to be welcoming Sephora to our team. Her professional background, coupled with her keen cultural understanding of the literary sector, will certainly serve her in good stead as she embarks on the next step of her career journey with us,” Camilleri said.