Home / News / British Author Caroline Smailes at the Book Festival on Campus back to news British Author Caroline Smailes at the Book Festival on Campus Festivals • News 9th March, 2017 As was announced in a press release earlier this week, the special guest for the 2017 Book Festival on Campus is British author Caroline Smailes. The Festival, which is the product of a collaborative effort by the National Book Council and Għaqda tal-Malti – Universita’, has as its main aim the promotion of literature with a mature audience in mind, in particular university students. For this reason, the organisers invite foreign writers to participate in the festival by giving workshops and leading discussions on their work and on reading and writing. Caroline Smailes, who is of Maltese descent and lives in the North West of England, studied writing and literature at the Creative Writing School of MMU (Manchester Metropolitan University). She has participated in a number of literary events in England, holding workshops on creative writing and on the use of the internet and related media for literary purposes. She is best known as the author of novels that have made a powerful impact on readers around the globe. Her first publication, ‘In Search of Adam’, touches upon dark themes as it explores the cruel realities of sexual abuse and neglect that plague the childhood of the protagonist, Jude, after her mother commits suicide, a suicide that hides a dark family secret. It is a frightening tale without redemption, told using a linguistic style and book layout that are remarkable for their originality and daring. After ‘In Search of Adam’, Smailes has published four other novels. ‘Black Boxes’ is based on the final thoughts of the protagonist, Ana Lewis, who has just taken an overdose of pills and is waiting for death to redeem her of the tragic circumstances of her life. The reader learns about those circumstances through the thoughts and memories that pass through Ana’s head before she dies. Her third novel, ‘Like Bees to Honey’, has a totally different form. It is a story about pregnancy, family, spirits and redemption in which Malta appears as a sort of transit zone for the spirits of the recently deceased. Nina, the pregnant protagonist, has just returned to Malta in an attempt to reconcile herself with her family, who had cut off all contact with her ever since her first pregnancy as a student in an English university. What she discovers upon returning to Malta is a strange world, a world of spirits that communicate with her through the unborn baby she carries in her womb, Christopher. Other works by Smailes include the experimental novel ’99 Reasons Why’ and, more recently, ‘The Drowning of Arthur Braxton’, which has been made into a film currently in production phase. During the festival Smailes will be leading a number of workshops on different themes – aspects of literary writing, the use of irregular forms of grammar in storytelling and creative writing. Keep following our Facebook page and website for more updates on Caroline Smailes and her participation in the Book Festival on Campus 2017. SHARE POST Related Articles Malta Book Fund Goes Fully Online with an Increased Budget for 2025 Malta Book Fund 17th March, 2025 Read More The National Book Council has rebranded! News 5th March, 2025 Read More Call for Delegates: Malta Named Focus Country for the 2025 Mediterranea Publishing Fellowship Initiatives 28th February, 2025 Read More The National Book Council at the 2025 London Book Fair News 25th February, 2025 Read More NBC and Wikimedia Malta announce Wikimedians in Residence for National Book Prize Project News 20th February, 2025 Read More National Book Prize 2025 – Applications Are Open National Book Prize 17th February, 2025 Read More NBC empowers local stakeholders at the London Book Fair 2025 Literary Exports 11th February, 2025 Read More The NBC’s Annual Report For 2024 News 4th February, 2025 Read More Festivals, Funds And Initiatives In 2025: Key Dates Festivals 29th January, 2025 Read More Join the NBC at the London Book Fair 2025: Guest Passes for NBC stakeholders from Malta Literary Exports 13th January, 2025 Read More view all similar news
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