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8 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 24 SEPTEMBER 2023 NEWS National Book Council deserted as resignations stultify body MARIANNA CALLEJA THE National Book Council has been left deserted after the members appointed to its board by the ministry for education, handed in their resignations in the past weeks. They include key representa- tives such as publishers Chris Gruppetta (Merlin) and Joseph Mizzi (Midsea), the writers John Portelli and Aleks Farru- gia, as well as deputy chairper- son Mark Vella, and secretary Joseph Debattista. Now the Council, led by chairman Mark Camilleri, does not even have a quorum for the board appointed in 2021 – so- ciologist Maria Brown, Herit- age Malta spokesperson Dan- iela Attard Bezzina are the last two members still on board. The resignations reflect an unhappiness with Camilleri's inaction over matters affecting the economic viability of pub- lishing houses: among them the rising cost of paper and newsprint, and a recent intro- duction of new costs for the distribution of printed materi- al by Maltapost, the sole post- al operator on the island. Camilleri, an educator who was assistant head at a state primary school before his appointment, is a published author of detective fiction. His three-year appointment in 2021 came hot on the heels of the expiry of the contract for his predecessor, and namesake, who broke ranks with the La- bour Party soon after the elec- tion of Robert Abela as prime minister a year earlier. "Camilleri's appointment came at a particularly diffi- cult time for publishers," said an insider with knowledge of the resignations, referring at rising costs of paper following the Russian war in Ukraine, as well as other related publishing costs. "The Council is supposed to help the publishing industry, not simply encourage reading – which is the remit of the nation- al literacy agency – and nobody is aiding the handful of pub- lishers whose living is simply earned from book publishing." A former board member de- scribed Camilleri as a "pleasant person" who lacked gumption in bringing forward urgent matters affecting publishers' livelihoods, to the government minister. "He lacks leadership qualities that are necessary in this kind of position, and sim- ply working towards hosting the annual book festival, is not sufficient in these trying times." The Malta Book Festival in 2022 was marred by the ab- sence of one of Malta's leading publishers and trailblazers for the publication and design of the modern Maltese novel, Merlin Books, which is led by Chris Gruppetta – now a former Council board mem- ber. That year, Gruppetta, an active voice in the industry, bluntly said that the Maltese book industry was reeling from a hike in printing costs due to the post-war inflation that had plagued so many sectors of the economy. "Between the much higher cost of producing books – due to how paper costs shot up – and the higher cost of sourcing our stand... literal- ly, the materials for building it, which due to current inflation increased significantly, and the drop in book sales this year, we calculated it didn't make finan- cial sense to take part and we would literally lose less money by not taking part than taking part," Gruppetta had told Mal- taToday. Different insiders who spoke to MaltaToday have placed the problem of the board's resigna- tions at the feet of Camilleri, who appears to avoid confron- tation and exercises a caution that his predecessor lacked. "He does not barge into minis- ters' offices with his demands, like his predecessor would do," one source said. The same source also believes Camilleri does not act inde- pendently without government approval. "The Council did not even convene frequently, with the few decisions taken being unilateral and then not advan- tageous for the publishing in- dustry. The Council's symbolic presence creates the impres- sion that it supports publishers but it's not achieving anything substantial." Camilleri's namesake prede- cessor has been credited with many accomplishments when he headed the NBC, introduc- ing public lending and copying rights for authors as well as significantly upgrading the im- pact of the Malta Book Festival with celebrity authors flown in for the annual event. A leading anti-censorship activist from well before 2013, Mark Camill- eri later became an outspoken critic of the Muscat admin- istration, briefly campaigned for Chris Fearne to take the Labour leadership, then broke ranks in 2020 after Robert Ab- ela assumed leadership in 2020. In 2021, Camilleri clashed with the education ministry when he was told to step down his position after an online tiff with one of the lawyers defend- ing the Caruana Galizia assassi- nation suspect Yorgen Fenech. Camilleri refused. After serv- ing in the role for eight years, his contract was not extended. He later filed for damag- es against the National Book Council, claiming his successor had prevented the Council's designated book reviewer from penning its critique of his po- lemic 'A Rentseeker's Paradise', alleging political discrimina- tion. NBC chairman Mark Camilleri