Malta Book Fund 2021 is now open for applications

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Applications for the 2021 Malta Book Fund are now open. The Malta Book Fund has a total value of €105,000 and comprises of two distinct grants funding both the publication and the translation of books. 

As part of its vision to take the role of a cultural-agent within society and become a proactive and progressive contributor to the cultural, educational and intellectual development of our society, the National Book Council developed the Fund to foster cultural growth in the local book market, with the objective in mind to counter the effects of its relatively small size, which seriously limits the capital available for quality publications, research and development, translation and marketing.

Local authors, translators and publishers tend to either curtail their more ambitious projects or take the financial risks involved in pursuing them. It is to encourage authors, translators and publishers not to shun projects on the grounds of lack of commercial viability, and to boost confidence in such initiatives and to ensure their fruition, that the National Book Council is for the seventh year in a row opening the public call for applications for the Malta Book Fund.

The National Book Council is currently receiving applications for Publishing Grants and Translation Grants (divided into two categories: Translation of Maltese books and Translation of books into Maltese).

With the aim of supporting the publication of quality literature and/or works of research, the Publishing Grants are allocated the annual sum of €50,000. Preference is given to ambitious projects of high cultural value and relevance to the target local market, particularly if such projects face difficulties relating to commercial viability. The grants support applications for the publication of academic and scholarly books including monographs, edited collections, and critical editions, as well as original works of literature, including novels, poetry, drama, biographies, literary nonfiction and graphic novels. Among others, books based solely on imagery or photography books are not eligible.

The Translation Grants within the Malta Book Fund are allocated an annual budget of €55,000 – €40,000 to support applications for the translation projects of Maltese books (published in the Maltese or English language with a Maltese ISBN) into any other language, with the aim of increasing the international exposure of Maltese creative and academic writing. Through a separate funding category, the annual sum of €15,000 is allocated to fund the translation projects of books from any other language into Maltese, thus supporting Maltese language translators in bringing international works of literature and research to a Maltese-reading public.

Past projects supported by the Malta Book Fund:

All of the grants within the Malta Book Fund adhere to the provisions of the Writers’ Charter of Economic Rights. The grants will be awarded to successful applicants following a competitive adjudication process. A specially-appointed adjudication board evaluates each project to ascertain both the value of the project and funding requirements. All grants awarded may support up to 100% of the proposed project up to a maximum of €5,000.

Interested applicants are encouraged to carefully read the guidelines and regulations of the respective grants for information relating to eligibility and the evaluation process before applying. The guidelines and regulations, together with the application form and other relevant information, can be accessed and downloaded from the Malta Book Fund webpage.

The order of classification of applications submitted will be published within six weeks from the application deadline.

The call for applications closes on Wednesday 30 June 2021 at noon.

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