Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/598356
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 8 NOVEMBER 2015 42 This Week Giving 'small' languages a voice Having visited Malta to give a talk at the Malta Book Festival last week, British publisher Clive Boutle speaks to MaltaToday about the importance of keeping 'small' languages healthy – a discussion framed by the recent publication of 'This Fair Land', an anthology of Maltese literature published, as edited with Prof. Charles Briffa What made you interested in small languages in the first place? I became interested in small languages when I realised the ex- tent of my ignorance. It quickly became a passion when I real- ised how fragile the situation is with many languages. Many of the languages I work with are en- dangered; some are experiencing modest revivals, many rapidly de- clining, even with official recog- nition. Perhaps even because of it! My interest is a matter of basic ecology: we lose so much when we lose a langauge and its unique view of the world. What kind of feedback did you get in London on the Maltese anthology? There is a growing interest in minority and regional languages in the UK. Holding an event of Maltese literature for the general public would have been unthink- able ten years ago. What are the main challenges that you face as a London-based publisher in promoting anthol- ogies of lesser-used languages? The main challenge is convinc- ing people to take a wide view of lesser-used languages – to see the connections and common prob- lems. That often means convinc- ing speakers of one lesser-used language to connect with speak- ers of other languages. You have been in the pub- lishing business for about 15 years now. How did you see the publishing business in London evolve throughout your career and what were its most crucial developments? The subject of lesser-used lan- guages and the popularity of lit- erature in translation is probably the biggest change in publishing over the last twenty years. Many small presses have grown up to provide books in translation. The place of small presses is a welcome, if unexpeted, develop- ment. What do you think of the Mal- ta Book Festival as a foreign publisher and how do you com- pare it to others of its kind? I have thoroughly enjoyed the Malta Book Festival, and it has been a great honour to have been a part of it. Small in comparison with Frankfurt and London, of course, but on a more human scale. This was my first visit to Valletta – what a place! About the anthology London-based publishers Francis Boutle have published an anthology of Maltese literature entitled This Fair Land, edited by Prof. Charles Briffa. The anthology, which is part of a series of anthologies called 'Lesser Used Languages of Europe' includes a large series of original and translated excerpts of Maltese prose and also poetry. The collection was compiled with the intent to give a broad overview of Maltese literature spanning generations of authors and literary styles. Until now the series has covered eight languages, including Galician, Manx (Isle of Man Gaelic), Breton, Esperanto, the Norman languages of the Channel Islands, Occitan as well as Maltese. The anthologies cover the literatures and languages from the earliest times to the present day and include poetry and prose, drama, proverbs and other literary genres like journalism, religious writing and travel writing. Young adult literature prize announces winners Terramaxka Prize 2015 announced its winners ahead of the opening of this year's National Book Festival, with MaltaToday cartoonist Mark Scicluna among their number British publisher Clive Boutle (left) giving a speech on 'This Fair Land' alongside the anthology's editor Prof. Charles Briffa THE National Book Council is proud to an- nounce the win- ners of the Ter- ramaxka Prize 2015 – a national prize for books written for chil- dren and adoles- cents throughout 2014. Winners were announced on November 3 during the official opening of the Malta Book Fes- tival, taking place over November 4 to 8 at the Mediterranean Conference Centre, Valletta in the presence of all Prize participants, Festival exhibitors and other special guests. MaltaToday cartoonist Mark Sci- cluna was among the winners of this new prize, for his illustration work on Klabb Kotba Maltin's Only in Ħal Biżarr, written by David Aloisio. These winning titles will be cel- ebrated during Festival mornings in a series of activities organized for visit- ing school children. Following are all winning titles of the Terramaxka Prize in their respective categories. The winners Category: ORIGINAL WORK: BOOKS FOR CHILDREN (AGES 0-7) L-Ewwel Ktieb tan-Numri by Terence Portelli (Midsea Books) Category: ORIGINAL WORK: BOOKS FOR CHILDREN (AGES 8-12) Dizzjunarju bil-Malti għat-Tfal by Christopher J. Micallef (BDL) Save Samyo City by Sherise Bugeja (Merlin Publishers) Category: ORIGINAL WORK: BOOKS FOR ADOLESCENTS (AGES 13-16) Only in Ħal Biżarr by David Aloisio (Klabb Kotba Maltin) Category: TRANSLATION: BOOKS TRANSLATED INTO MALTESE (AGES 0-7) Lupu Lupettu Kull Kulur by Clare Azzopardi (Merlin Publishers) Category: TRANSLATION: BOOKS TRANSLATED INTO MALTESE (AGES 8-12) Kosmos Express: Il-Wikkiel tal-Pjaneti by Loranne Vella (Merlin Publishers) Category: TRANSLATION: BOOKS TRANSLATED INTO MALTESE (AGES 13-16) Kważi kważi lil Tamara nżommuha by Simon Bartolo (Merlin Publishers) Prize for BEST BOOK PRODUCTION: TERRAMAXKA BOOK PRIZE 2015 Merlin Publishers for Stampakelma by Trevor Zahra. Prize for ILLUSTRATOR OF WINNING BOOK IN THE ORIGINAL WORKS: BOOKS FOR CHILDREN (AGES 8-12) CATEGORY Andrea Meli for Save Samyo City (Merlin Publishers) Prize for ILLUSTRATOR OF WINNING BOOK IN THE ORIGINAL WORKS: BOOKS FOR ADOLESCENTS (AGES 13-16) CATEGORY Mark Scicluna for Only in Ħal Biżarr (Klabb Kotba Maltin) From left: Trevor Zahra, Clare Azzopardi and Loranne Vella Illustration for Only in Hal Bizarr by Mark Scicluna