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The results of the Malta Book Fund 2023 are out

Funds • Initiatives • Malta Book Fund • News

1st August, 2023

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The National Book Council is pleased to announce that the Malta Book Fund 2023 adjudication board has agreed on the winning submissions for this year’s Fund. 26 projects will be receiving funding for publication or translation through the Malta Book Fund.

The various strands of the Malta Book Fund are aimed at supporting culturally significant book projects that require funding due to their lack of commercial viability. The winning projects have been chosen according to a set of established criteria, including the cultural and educational value of the project, and its the engagement with the publishing market and target audience.

The Malta Book Fund 2023 Adjudication Board was comprised of Mr Keith Borg, Dr George Cassar, Ms Sephora Francalanza, and Dr Karsten Xuereb who independently assessed each submission for completeness, costing, feasibility and cultural merit. Applications are considered to receive either full or partial funding.

The adjudicators noted that as a rule, the eligible applications were supported by the documents requested in the regulations and the applicants went into rigorous detail. However, they pointed out that those applications that had some missing documents suffered in the marks. They also said that there were valid applications, but the absence of some key documents meant low marks. What stood out the most were the missing documents in terms of the distribution plan, distribution and promotion in the translation projects, and in some others the lack of a letter of interest from a publisher. The adjudicators also stressed the importance of the tangibility of the submitted documents.

By the application period deadline on 5 June, the 2023 Malta Book Fund received a total of 72 eligible submissions across all strands of the Fund. The budget for the 2023 Malta Book Fund was €120,000, with €50,000 allocated to Publishing Grants for New Books, €10,000 for Publishing Grants for New Editions of Out-of-Print Works, €55,000 for Translation Grants and €5,000 for Book Translation Pitch Grants.

All grants awarded may support up to 100% of the proposed project up to a maximum of €5,000 for all grants except the Book Translation Pitch Grants, which may support up to a maximum of €500 per proposal. To ensure that the Malta Book Fund is able to support as many worthy projects as possible and utilised fully, the National Book Council reserves the right to repurpose grants left unused from one category to the other.

Applicants which fail to receive funds in a particular year are not barred from applying again during the next call for applications with the same project or a different one.

The NBC will be contacting the winning applicants for the signing of a beneficiary’s contract allowing for an 18-month period from the date of signing to publish the book.

The list of the projects funded, alongside the beneficiary and the amount granted, can be viewed below:

Publishing Grants for New Books*

Applikant Applicant	It-titlu tal-proġett Project title	Pubblikatur Publisher	Fond allokat (€) Funds allocated (€)
Elaine Germani	Ktieb tal-etikett u l-manjieri tajba	Fondazzjoni Sagħtar	5,000
Simone Spiteri	Dù Theatre celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2024. Creating some of the most daring, innovative theatre that changed the local theatre landscape in the past two decades the company seeks to encapsulate the journey so far in a publication	Self-published	4,075
Anna Borg Cardona	“Music printing by the Brocktorff Lithographers”	Midsea Books	5,000
Romeo Roxman Gatt	“Qarn” - a 50, 000 word memoir exploring my transition journey within the context of my home - Malta - and in my native language - Maltese - focusing on trans discourse and trans world-building.	Aphroconfuso	5,000
Anthony Gatt	“Fejn Tmur il-Qalb” - Monsinjur Victor Grech. Riflessjonijiet dwar temi temi attwali minnu, eżerċizzji spiritwali, kummenti dwaru minn residenti li rritornaw b'dinjità lura fis-soċjetà	Caritas Malta	5,000
Stephen Tonna	“Floriana - Celebrating 300 Years (1724-2024) of Existence”	Kite Group	5,000
Tyrone Grima	"Din il-Ġawhra ta' Pajjiżna" huwa r-rumanz ġdid ta' Tyrone Grima. Ix-xogħol jaqa' taħt il-ġeneru ta' letteratura queer fejn il-protagonist tar-rumanz jgħix is-saga tal-membri tal-familja tiegħu f'kuntest storiku Malti mibdul b'elementi ta' fantaxjenza	Horizons	5,000
John Inguanez	“Mogħdijiet - Ħajti fil-Ġurnaliżmu, fir-Raħal li Darba Kien, u Malta li Baqgħet Tinbidel”, awtobijografija tal-awtur li tiftaħ tieqa fuq il-ħajja mis-snin 60 ’il quddiem	Horizons	4,570
Luke Saydon	"It-Teatru tal-Miskin". Il-pubblikazzjoni tal-iskript tat-"Teatru tal-Miskin", musical li ttella' fl-2022. Dramm dwar l-intolleranza ispirat mill-istorja u diffikultajiet tal-kumunità LGBQTI+ f'Malta.	Saydon Studio	4,690
Carmel Cassar	“Health, Disease and Society in Early Modern Malta”	Kite Group	5,000
Nicola Ann Petroni	"Mediterranean Modern Art: An Alternative” - an analysis of modern art from the Mediterranean region, by Giuseppe Schembri Bonaci	Horizons	3,169.50 (parzjali/partial)

*Some funds which were not utilised in other categories were transferred to this category

Publishing Grants for New Editions of Out-of-Print Works

Applikant Applicant	It-titlu tal-proġett Project title	Pubblikatur Publisher	Fond allokat (€) Funds allocated (€)
Joseph Borg - SKS Publishers	"Minn Xtut in-Nil" - antoloġija ta' novelli ta' emigranti Maltin fl-Eġittu, maħruġa fl-1937.	SKS Publishers	5,000
L-Għaqda tal-Malti - Klabb Kotba Maltin	Dan il-proġett beħsiebu jippubblika mill-ġdid ix-xogħol letterarju "Tejbilhom Ħajjithom" tal-awtur John F. Marks	L-Għaqda tal-Malti - Klabb Kotba Maltin	5,000

Translation Grants Cat. 1: Translation of Maltese Books

Applikant Applicant	It-titlu tal-proġett Project title	Pubblikatur Publisher	Fond allokat (€) Funds allocated (€)
Nadia Mifsud	Varjazzjonijiet tas-Skiet - traduzzjoni għall-Ingliż minn Miriam Calleja	Poetrywala	5,000
Katryna Storace	Translation in English of Loranne Vella's National Book Prize-winning novel Rokit	Praspar Press	5,000
Gezim Tafa	Translation into Albanian and publication of Immanuel Mifsud's book Fid-Dlam tal-Lejl Ħarisna as “Sleep Now, O Sleep Now”	Ombra GVG Publishing House	4,828
Adrian Grima	Traduzzjoni għat-Taljan ta' Klin u Kapriċċi Oħra.	Mesogea	4,998
Mark Camilleri	Translation and publication of L-Antoloġija tal-Letteratura Mqarba in the English language	Dar Camilleri	5,000
Dejan Matic	Translating Papa Aħmed by Joe Pace into Serbian using English as a bridge language	Treći Trg	5,000
Leanne Ellul	Traduzzjoni għat-Taljan tal-ktieb L-Inventarju tal-Kamra l-Kaħla minn Viginia Monteforte	Capire Edizioni	5,000
Hrant Aleksanyan	Translation into Armenian and publication of Pierre J. Mejlak's book Having Said Goodbye	Vogi-Nairi Arts Center	5,000

Translation Grants Cat. 2: Translation into Maltese*

Applikant Applicant	It-titlu tal-proġett Project title	Pubblikatur Publisher	Fond allokat (€) Funds allocated (€)
Claudine Borg	Translation into Maltese of Annie Ernaux's L'Événement (2000)	Faraxa Publishing	5,000
Carmel Serracino	“Luċjanu: L-istorja Vera” - traduzzjoni mill-Grieg ta' rumanz satiriku-fatnaxjentifiku tat-tieni seklu W.K.	Klabb Kotba Maltin	5,000
Anthony (Toni) Aquilina	Traduzzjoni għall-Malti ta’ La Peste ta' Albert Camus	Faraxa Publishing	5,000
Albert Marshall	“Disa’ Opri” - Kullana ta' disa' libretti operistiċi tradotti għall-Malti mill-oriġinal: għażla ta' disa' fost l-iktar opri popolari li qatt inkitbu	Horizons	3,169.50 (parzjali/partial)