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maltatoday | SUNDAY • 8 MAY 2022 4 CULTURE National Book Prize and Terramaxka Prize long list announced The National Book Prize has drawn a record number of submissions with 199 total eligible titles THE National Book Council has published the list of titles that were submitted to partici- pate in the National Book Prize and Terramaxka Prize 2022 for books published in 2021. The National Book Prize is the highest literary prize in Mal- ta assigned to authors, editors, translators, publishers and il- lustrators for books published with a local ISBN during the preceding year. The eight categories of the Na- tional Book Prize for adults are Novels, Short Stories, Poetry, Drama, Literary Non-Fiction, Translation, General Research, and Biographical and Historio- graphic Research. The six categories in the Ter- ramaxka Prize are Original Works for Children ages 0–7, 8–12 and Young Adult Litera- ture, books in Translation for Children ages 0–7 and 8–12, and Young Adult Literature in Translation. All books have been screened for eligibility by an independent adjudication board and were vetted for inclusion in the cor- rect Prize categories. This year, the council said that the National Book Prize has drawn a record number of submissions with 199 total eli- gible titles now forming part of its longlist: 107 titles across the eight categories of the National Book Prize for adults, and 92 ti- tles across six categories of the Terramaxka Prize. In the com- ing months, the members of the adjudication board will be read- ing the submissions in order to select the titles for the Nation- al Book Prize and Terramaxka shortlist, which will be released next July. This year, the win- ners of the National Book Prize for adults and the Terramaxka Prize for children and young adults will be announced during a joint award-giving ceremony on 4 November 2022. FM Theatre to stage Friends-inspired one-woman-show this May Ross & Rachel stars Maria Buckle, directed by Antonella Mifsud, from 13-22 May at Theatre Next Door FM Theatre's next production at newly opened venue Theatre Next Door will feature one of Malta's top performers in a play inspired by the classic US sit- com, Friends. Set to open immediately after the current run of Class at the venue from 13-22 May, Ross & Rachel stars Maria Buckle in a one-woman-show directed by Antonella Mifsud. Accord- ing to the Olivier-nominated playwright behind the play, James Fritz, Ross & Rachel is 'not about Ross Geller and Rachel Green from Friends but it's not not about them'. A dark and uncompromising piece about romance, expec- tation and mortality, Fritz ref- erences the on-again off-again relationship of the two char- acters from the iconic sitcom to take an unflinching look at the myths of modern love and our idea of 'happily ever after'. "In Ross & Rachel, James Fritz gives us a hilarious and thought-provoking duologue for one performer about mod- ern relationships, told through the lens of TV's definitive will-they-won't-they couple," says FM Theatre founder and managing director Edward Mercieca. "With the incredi- ble Maria Buckle taking cen- tre-stage, this is the ideal play to keep up the momentum at Theatre Next Door, following Class." FM Theatre's production of Ross & Rachel continues the play's success, which en- joyed a sell-out world pre- miere at Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2015 before opening off-Broadway and embark- ing on a UK tour. Likewise, it keeps up the impressively fast- paced opening programme at Theatre Next Door, the state- of-the-art performing arts space launched last month by the producers behind smash- hit musicals My Fair Lady, Mamma Mia! and We Will Rock You, FM Theatre Pro- ductions. Ross & Rachel runs at The- atre Next Door, Magħtab, on 13, 14, 15 and 19, 20, 21, 22 May at 8pm. Tickets and fur- ther information are available at www.tnd.com.mt. Set to open immediately after the current run of Class at the venue from 13-22 May, Ross & Rachel stars Maria Buckle in a one-woman- show directed by Antonella Mifsud.