Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1484063
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 13 NOVEMBER 2022 14 BOOKS Events for Maltese publishing industry professionals at the 2022 Malta Book Festival: save the date and book THE 2022 Malta Book Festival's cultural programme features more than one hundred major events aimed at the general pub- lic, children and their families, and publishing industry pro- fessionals: book launches, book presentations, dramatic perfor- mances, workshops and confer- ences. A number of events tar- get the main stakeholders of the National Book Council (NBC) – publishers, authors, transla- tors, editors, illustrators, graph- ic designers. The NBC aims at strengthening professional net- works while increasing opportu- nities for the creative communi- ty. All events are free of charge, but some of these sessions re- quire a registration. Literary Speed-Dating: book your slot The Literary Speed Dating event on Saturday 26 November will give a unique opportunity to book for a fifteen-minute one- to-one meeting with a number of industry professionals pub- lishing professionals in a private setting. Whether you are looking for advice to take the first step to publishing, or whether you are looking to pitch a book with a publisher, this event will appeal to you. The professionals available for an individual meeting include John Boyne's agent Simon Trew- in; book editor Elizabeth Cortis; poet laureate Nadia Mifsud; il- lustrator and art-director Gat- taldo; co-founder and publisher at Praspar Press Kat Storace; lit- erary translator Jen Calleja; and prize-winning author and trans- lator Antoinette Borg. Registra- tions are now open and you can register through this link. A hotspot for illustrators and graphic designers At the centre-stage of the Malta Book Festival, alongside the exhibitors' stand, will be the exhibition From Illustration to Book, a collaboration between the National Book Council and Arts Council Malta (ACM). The exhibition provides a showcase for illustrators and graphic de- signers working in and around the publishing industry, where visual arts and literature work hand in hand. As part of the exhibition pro- gramme, ACM will be organis- ing a number of Meet the Artist Sessions. The first session will be held on Wednesday 23 with au- thor Trevor Żahra, followed by another on Thursday 24 with the Malta Community of Illustra- tors. On Saturday 26, publishers Chris Gruppetta (Merlin Pub- lishers) and Joseph Mizzi (Klabb Kotba Maltin) will be ACM's special guests, while on Sunday 27, it will be illustrators Marisa Attard and Matt Stroud's turn. The Malta Community of Illus- trators will also be organising their first official meetup event and launching their second vol- ume of their Annual. More de- tails can be found here. Self-publishing: contribute with your publishing experience Some self-published authors have chosen to be at MFCC among the exhibitors showcas- ing and selling their books. A discussion will be held targeting this segment of the publishing world, titled Self Publishing: A Focus on Quality. Writers who decide to self-publish often think they have to do everything on their own. For a self-published book to be taken seriously, it needs to meet the same high standards held by traditional publishing houses. This panel will discuss the route to self-publishing and how in- dustry professionals can ensure a high-quality publication. Author John Bonello will be moderating the discussion with editor Elizabeth Cortis, proof- reader Dwayne Ellul, and illus- trator and designer Julian Mallia. Authors and industry stake- holders will also have the chance to get to know better the process which leads to the production of a book. Representatives from Gutenberg Press will show how a book is made and the full pro- cess of book manufacturing – from the design aspect through to the production process and finally the finished bound book. Confessions of a Literary Agent: is Malta ready for one? Veteran literary agent Simon Trewin will hold a keynote re- flecting on the role of the agent in maximising an author's po- tential from a creative and a business perspective. The transi- tion the global publishing world has gone through since the early 1990s will be looked at, with an idea in mind to gather local per- spectives to help establish a liter- ary agency in Malta. Having worked with a host of international bestselling au- thors, including John Boyne, across books, film, theatre and digital Trewin is well placed to talk about the agent's role and to answer questions from prospec- tive authors, published authors or individuals looking to em- bark on a career in publishing. Attendance is by registration on this link. Live illustration workshop for children Gattaldo, the illustrator of this year's Malta Book Festival poster and the author of the children's book Fearless, will give a one-off one-hour illustration workshop session for children aged 7 to 12. Since the number of participants is limited to twenty, register for a spot here. All materials will be provided. Travelling Maltese poetry During the award-giving cere- mony of the Doreen Micallef Na- tional Poetry Contest on Friday 25 November, the National Book Council will announce the details of its collaboration with Modern Poetry in Translation, the UK poetry magazine that showcases the best of contemporary world poetry. Through this collabora- tion, a focus section in the 2023 issue for Maltese poetry in Eng- lish translation will be published. More details on submissions, regulations and deadlines will be outlined during the event, whose details can be found here. The Malta Book Festival is the largest and most extensive cel- ebration of the book culture in Malta.It runs between 23-27 No- vember at the following opening hours: on Wednesday and Thurs- day from 9am-1pm and 5:30pm- 9pm; on Friday from 9am-1pm and 5:30pm-10pm; on Saturday from 9:30am-10pm, and on Sun- day from 9:30am-8pm. The full programme of events for the 2022 Malta Book Festival is available online here. For the latest updates, please follow the NBC website, and the NBC Face- book page and Malta Book Fes- tival 2022 Facebook event page.