Kampus Kotba – the eighth edition of the Campus Book Festival kicks off tomorrow

The 2022 Campus Book Festival kicks off tomorrow morning at the University of Malta Quadrangle. Students and the general public will be treated to a packed three-day programme of literary events being held between Wednesday 23 and Friday 25 March. Organised in collaboration with local publishers, University of Malta Departments and student organisations, the programme features book presentations, guided library tours, thematic discussions and interviews with the participation of local and international writers and researchers.

Kampus Kotba will be drawing particular focus on two EU Prize for Literature winners with a number of events dedicated to Lara Calleja and the Festival’s international guest Jan Carson. The Irish author of a number of major prize winning titles including The Fire Starters (Doubleday) and her latest novel, The Raptures (Doubleday) will be speaking about her literary works with the Maltese writer Leanne Ellul on Wednesday at 2pm. Earlier Carson will also be participating in a book club session with students from the UM English Department led by Prof. James Corby to discuss her short story collection The Last Resort (Doubleday).

On Thursday at 12pm Carson will be joining fellow Maltese EUPL winner Lara Calleja to exchange their thoughts about the opportunities afforded by the Prize as well as their books in a discussion moderated by Robert Pisani. This session will be of particular interest to all those who want to know more about the EUPL thanks to the participation of Joseph Lia, Head of the Creative Europe Office in Malta. The participation of Jan Carson at the Festival is a collaboration between the NBC and Creative Europe Desk Malta. Lara Calleja will also discussing her 2021 National Book Prize winning book Kissirtu Kullimkien (Merlin Publishers) in a book club session with students from the UM Department of Maltese moderated by Justine Sommerville.

Kampus Kotba comes to a close on Friday 25 March when it hosts an Open Mic evening organised in collaboration with Inizjamed and the participation of special guest Lara Calleja. The Open Mic concept offers a platform to anyone who would like to share their art through the spoken word.

This year Kampus Kotba offers a wider book selection on sale thanks to the participation of a record number of established publishers and booksellers. Exhibitors are collectively providing a book selection spanning locally-and internationally-published novels, short-story and poetry collections, non-fiction, drama, translated works and YA literature, as well as works of research, Melitensia and more. Also thanks to the continued participation of Malta’s leading prize-winning publishers, Kampus Kotba is an unmissable opportunity for students and the general public to catch up with the latest publications, while also attending a discussion of interest from the Festival’s programme.

The Festival exhibitors are Faraxa Publishing, Horizons,  Kite Group, Merlin Publishers, Klabb Kotba Maltin/Midsea Books, Marvellous Malta, Malta University Press, Mallia & D’Amato Booksellers, Inizjamed, Għaqda tal-Malti – Università, Malta Libraries, and Creative Europe Desk Malta.

The 2022 Campus Book Festival events programme is being organised in collaboration with Għaqda tal-Malti – Università, DESA (Department of English Students’ Association), HoASA (the History of Art and Fine Arts Students’ Association), SPS (Students’ Philosophical Society), Studenti Graffitti, Department of Philosophy, the Department of Maltese, the Department of English, the Department of Translation, Terminology and Interpreting Studies, and the Department of Artificial Intelligence at the University of Malta. These will all contribute to events and activities.

To know more about them, download the 2022 Campus Book Festival Events Programme. or visit the Kampus Kotba Facebook event page. For further information visit ktieb.org.mt.