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maltatoday | SUNDAY • 18 APRIL 2021 6 BOOKS Lauren Marie Grech Horizons, 2020 LIFE is all good for Amelia Do- novan, a thirty-year-old suc- cessful entrepreneur and the fine-looking Eric Davis until day they meet and fall in love, thanks to her sister Tiffany. Call it destiny or tragic fate; all of their lives are set to change for- ever. How can falling in love with someone feel wrong yet so right? Does love really happen when you least expect it? A tale of love, lies and loss; which is set to take you on a ride of emotion. This is Lauren's first novel, and it has gone well with the Maltese reader. The book is available from leading bookshops and also online from Horizons' website, www.horizons.com.mt. Love Happens Book review Love Happens can be purchased from the publishing house Horizons 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 ob- jective in mind to counter the effects of its relatively small size, which seriously limits the capital available for qual- ity publications, research and development, translation and marketing. Local authors, translators and publishers tend to either cur- tail their more ambitious pro- jects or take the financial risks involved in pursuing them. It is to encourage authors, transla- tors and publishers not to shun projects on the grounds of lack of commercial viability, and to boost confidence in such initi- atives and to ensure their fru- ition, 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 applica- tions for Publishing Grants and Translation Grants (divided in- to two categories: Translation of Maltese books and Transla- tion of books into Maltese). With the aim of supporting the publication of quality lit- erature and/or works of re- search, the Publishing Grants are allocated the annual sum of €50,000. Preference is given to ambitious projects of high cul- tural value and relevance to the target local market, particu- larly if such projects face diffi- culties relating to commercial viability. The grants support applications for the publication of original works of literature, including novels, poetry, dra- ma, biographies, literary non- fiction and graphic novels, as well as academic and scholarly books including monographs, edited collections, and critical editions. Books based solely on imagery or photography books are not eligible. The Translation Grants with- in the Malta Book Fund are allocated an annual budget of €55,000 – €40,000 to support applications for the translation projects of Maltese books (pub- lished in the Maltese or English language with a Maltese ISBN) into any other language, with the aim of increasing the inter- national exposure of Maltese creative and academic writing. Through a separate funding category, the annual sum of €15,000 is al- located to fund the translation projects of books from any oth- er language into Maltese, thus supporting Maltese language translators in bringing interna- tional works of literature and research to a Maltese-reading public. 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 follow- ing a competitive adjudication process. A specially-appoint- ed adjudication board evalu- ates 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 en- couraged to carefully read the guidelines and regulations of the respective grants for infor- mation relating to eligibility and the evaluation process be- fore applying. The guidelines and regula- tions, together with the appli- cation form and other relevant information, can be accessed and downloaded from the Mal- ta Book Fund webpage. The order of classification of applications submitted will be published within six weeks from the application deadline. The call for applications clos- es on Wednesday 30 June 2021 at noon. Malta Book Fund 2021 is now open for applications