The results of the Malta Book Fund 2023 are out

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  4. The results of the Malta Book Fund 2023 are out




Posted on August 1, 2023

The National Book Council is pleased to announce that the Malta Book Fund 2023 adjudication board has agreed on the winning submissions for this year’s Fund. 26 projects will be receiving funding for publication or translation through the Malta Book Fund.

The various strands of the Malta Book Fund are aimed at supporting culturally significant book projects that require funding due to their lack of commercial viability. The winning projects have been chosen according to a set of established criteria, including the cultural and educational value of the project, and its the engagement with the publishing market and target audience.

The Malta Book Fund 2023 Adjudication Board was comprised of Mr Keith Borg, Dr George Cassar, Ms Sephora Francalanza, and Dr Karsten Xuereb who independently assessed each submission for completeness, costing, feasibility and cultural merit. Applications are considered to receive either full or partial funding.

The adjudicators noted that as a rule, the eligible applications were supported by the documents requested in the regulations and the applicants went into rigorous detail. However, they pointed out that those applications that had some missing documents suffered in the marks. They also said that there were valid applications, but the absence of some key documents meant low marks. What stood out the most were the missing documents in terms of the distribution plan, distribution and promotion in the translation projects, and in some others the lack of a letter of interest from a publisher. The adjudicators also stressed the importance of the tangibility of the submitted documents.

By the application period deadline on 5 June, the 2023 Malta Book Fund received a total of 72 eligible submissions across all strands of the Fund. The budget for the 2023 Malta Book Fund was €120,000, with €50,000 allocated to Publishing Grants for New Books, €10,000 for Publishing Grants for New Editions of Out-of-Print Works, €55,000 for Translation Grants and €5,000 for Book Translation Pitch Grants.

All grants awarded may support up to 100% of the proposed project up to a maximum of €5,000 for all grants except the Book Translation Pitch Grants, which may support up to a maximum of €500 per proposal. To ensure that the Malta Book Fund is able to support as many worthy projects as possible and utilised fully, the National Book Council reserves the right to repurpose grants left unused from one category to the other.

Applicants which fail to receive funds in a particular year are not barred from applying again during the next call for applications with the same project or a different one.

The NBC will be contacting the winning applicants for the signing of a beneficiary’s contract allowing for an 18-month period from the date of signing to publish the book.

The list of the projects funded, alongside the beneficiary and the amount granted, can be viewed below:

Publishing Grants for New Books*

Applikant
Applicant 		It-titlu tal-proġett
Project title		Pubblikatur
Publisher		Fond allokat (€)
Funds allocated (€)
Elaine GermaniKtieb tal-etikett u l-manjieri tajbaFondazzjoni Sagħtar5,000
Simone SpiteriDù Theatre celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2024. Creating some of the most daring, innovative theatre that changed the local theatre landscape in the past two decades the company seeks to encapsulate the journey so far in a publicationSelf-published4,075
Anna Borg Cardona“Music printing by the Brocktorff Lithographers”Midsea Books5,000
Romeo Roxman Gatt“Qarn” - a 50, 000 word memoir exploring my transition journey within the context of my home - Malta - and in my native language - Maltese - focusing on trans discourse and trans world-building.Aphroconfuso5,000
Anthony Gatt“Fejn Tmur il-Qalb” - Monsinjur Victor Grech. Riflessjonijiet dwar temi temi attwali minnu, eżerċizzji spiritwali, kummenti dwaru minn residenti li rritornaw b'dinjità lura fis-soċjetàCaritas Malta 5,000
Stephen Tonna“Floriana - Celebrating 300 Years (1724-2024) of Existence”Kite Group 5,000
Tyrone Grima"Din il-Ġawhra ta' Pajjiżna" huwa r-rumanz ġdid ta' Tyrone Grima. Ix-xogħol jaqa' taħt il-ġeneru ta' letteratura queer fejn il-protagonist tar-rumanz jgħix is-saga tal-membri tal-familja tiegħu f'kuntest storiku Malti mibdul b'elementi ta' fantaxjenzaHorizons5,000
John Inguanez“Mogħdijiet - Ħajti fil-Ġurnaliżmu, fir-Raħal li Darba Kien, u Malta li Baqgħet Tinbidel”, awtobijografija tal-awtur li tiftaħ tieqa fuq il-ħajja mis-snin 60 ’il quddiem Horizons4,570
Luke Saydon"It-Teatru tal-Miskin". Il-pubblikazzjoni tal-iskript tat-"Teatru tal-Miskin", musical li ttella' fl-2022. Dramm dwar l-intolleranza ispirat mill-istorja u diffikultajiet tal-kumunità LGBQTI+ f'Malta.Saydon Studio4,690
Carmel Cassar“Health, Disease and Society in Early Modern Malta”Kite Group 5,000
Nicola Ann Petroni"Mediterranean Modern Art: An Alternative” - an analysis of modern art from the Mediterranean region, by Giuseppe Schembri BonaciHorizons3,169.50 (parzjali/partial)

*Some funds which were not utilised in other categories were transferred to this category

Publishing Grants for New Editions of Out-of-Print Works

Applikant
Applicant 		It-titlu tal-proġett
Project title		Pubblikatur
Publisher		Fond allokat (€)
Funds allocated (€)
Joseph Borg - SKS Publishers"Minn Xtut in-Nil" - antoloġija ta' novelli ta' emigranti Maltin fl-Eġittu, maħruġa fl-1937.SKS Publishers5,000
L-Għaqda tal-Malti - Klabb Kotba MaltinDan il-proġett beħsiebu jippubblika mill-ġdid ix-xogħol letterarju "Tejbilhom Ħajjithom" tal-awtur John F. MarksL-Għaqda tal-Malti - Klabb Kotba Maltin5,000

Translation Grants Cat. 1: Translation of Maltese Books

Applikant
Applicant 		It-titlu tal-proġett
Project title		Pubblikatur
Publisher		Fond allokat (€)
Funds allocated (€)
Nadia MifsudVarjazzjonijiet tas-Skiet - traduzzjoni għall-Ingliż minn Miriam CallejaPoetrywala5,000
Katryna StoraceTranslation in English of Loranne Vella's National Book Prize-winning novel RokitPraspar Press5,000
Gezim TafaTranslation into Albanian and publication of Immanuel Mifsud's book Fid-Dlam tal-Lejl Ħarisna as “Sleep Now, O Sleep Now”Ombra GVG Publishing House4,828
Adrian GrimaTraduzzjoni għat-Taljan ta' Klin u Kapriċċi Oħra.Mesogea4,998
Mark CamilleriTranslation and publication of L-Antoloġija tal-Letteratura Mqarba in the English languageDar Camilleri5,000
Dejan MaticTranslating Papa Aħmed by Joe Pace into Serbian using English as a bridge languageTreći Trg5,000
Leanne EllulTraduzzjoni għat-Taljan tal-ktieb L-Inventarju tal-Kamra l-Kaħla minn Viginia MonteforteCapire Edizioni5,000
Hrant AleksanyanTranslation into Armenian and publication of Pierre J. Mejlak's book Having Said GoodbyeVogi-Nairi Arts Center5,000

Translation Grants Cat. 2: Translation into Maltese*

Applikant
Applicant 		It-titlu tal-proġett
Project title		Pubblikatur
Publisher		Fond allokat (€)
Funds allocated (€)
Claudine BorgTranslation into Maltese of Annie Ernaux's L'Événement (2000)Faraxa Publishing5,000
Carmel Serracino“Luċjanu: L-istorja Vera” - traduzzjoni mill-Grieg ta' rumanz satiriku-fatnaxjentifiku tat-tieni seklu W.K.Klabb Kotba Maltin5,000
Anthony (Toni) AquilinaTraduzzjoni għall-Malti ta’ La Peste ta' Albert CamusFaraxa Publishing5,000
Albert Marshall“Disa’ Opri” - Kullana ta' disa' libretti operistiċi tradotti għall-Malti mill-oriġinal: għażla ta' disa' fost l-iktar opri popolari li qatt inkitbuHorizons3,169.50 (parzjali/partial)

*Some funds which were not utilised in other categories were transferred to this category

Book Translation Pitch Grants

Applikant
Applicant 		It-titlu tal-proġett
Project title		Fond allokat (€)
Funds allocated (€)
Leanne EllulPartijiet mill-ġabra L-Inventarju tal-Kamra l-Kaħla jiġu tradotti għall-Ingliż500

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