Alex Vella Gera’s ‘Trojan’ presented at the Buenos Aires International Book Fair

The Spanish edition of Alex Vella Gera’s award-winning Trojan, translated from the Maltese by Antoine Cassar, has been published by Editorial Librosdementira and is being distributed in bookshops across Chile and Argentina. Earlier in May a representative of the National Book Council joined the author and the translator on a brief promotional book tour with stops in Santiago and Buenos Aires.

The book launch for Troyano took place on a Saturday evening at Santiago’s Libreria del GAM. An extensive discussion led by the writers Nicolás Sepúlveda and Rafael Gumucio addressed church-state relations in Chile and Malta, isolationism, and the construction of narrative empathy. In the following days Alex Vella Gera and Antoine Cassar were interviewed on Radio Universidad de Chile.

In between interviews with the Argentine press, the novel was again presented at the Buenos Aires International Book Fair, this time by the Argentine writer and journalist Matías Capelli and the critic Gonzalo León. The presentation was followed by a book signing session.

As part of its work towards the promotion of Maltese Literature abroad, acting as a literary agent and a bridge between Maltese writers and foreign publishers, the NBC conducted meetings with relevant stakeholders concerning opportunities for further literary exports.