Malta Book Fund 2023 is now open for applications

Applications for the 2023 Malta Book Fund are now open. This fund consists of two main distinct grant areas funding both the publication and the translation of books, with a total value of €120,000.

The National Book Council (NBC) developed this Fund to foster cultural growth in the local book market, as part of its vision to take the role of a cultural-agent within society and become a proactive contributor to the cultural, educational and intellectual development of our society.

For the ninth year in a row, the NBC is opening the public call for applications for the Malta Book Fund in its bid 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.

The Malta Book Fund consists of four types of grants:

1. Publishing Grants for New Books;
2. Publishing Grants for New Editions of Out-of-Print Works;
3. Translation Grants (divided into two categories: Translation of Maltese books and Translation of books into Maltese); and
4. Book Translation Pitch Grants.

The Publishing Grants for New Books aims to support the publication of quality literature and/or works of research. Its allocated sum is 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 Publishing Grants for New Edition of Out-of-Print Works aims to bridge the gap between the need to read classics and books of considerable cultural, educational and intellectual importance to society, and their unavailability in bookshops, with an eye to specifically subsidize the publication of new editions of books that are out of print and were published at least 20 years before the launch of the current Malta Book Fund call. It has an allocation of €10,000.

The first category of the Translation Grants  aims 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, thus increasing the international exposure of Maltese creative and academic writing. The allocation of this category is €40,000. The second category aims 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. The allocation of the latter is €15,000.

The Book Translation Pitch Grants aims to support applications for the translation of excerpts of Maltese works published in the Maltese or English language in Malta with a Maltese ISBN into any other language; of works originally published in any other language into the Maltese language; of works originally published in any other language which are going to be pitched through an English language bridge translation. Its allocation is of €5,000. Applicants for this grant must ensure to identify the rights holder in their application and must include a letter of agreement from the text’s author or the rights’ owner (or owners) for the text being translated.

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 its funding requirements.

Interested applicants are encouraged to read the guidelines and regulations of the respective grants carefully, for information relating to eligibility and the evaluation process before applying. All grants awarded may support up to 100% of the proposed project up to a maximum of €5,000 for all grants,  except for the Book Translation Pitch Grants which has a maximum of €500 per pitch proposal.

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 of the application deadline.

The call for applications closes on Monday 5 June 2023 at noon.