As preparations for the 2021 Malta Book Festival, to take place between Wednesday 3 and Sunday 7 November at the Malta Fairs and Conventions Centre (MFCC) in Ta’ Qali, are well underway, the National Book Council has announced a number of guest authors and key events.
The announcement of renowned Scottish writer Irvine Welsh as the international guest of this year’s Festival is being followed with a five-day programme full of events celebrating books and readings for audiences of all ages.
There will be numerous book launches and presentations, meetings with authors, workshops, thematic discussions, film screenings and a host of activities for children, some of which will stream online.
Among the special appearances and performances, there will be DANUSAN who will be bringing their humorous touch to the show ‘Il-Kotba jieħdu l-ħajja’ (Books come to life), which will be performed daily throughout the festival.
On Wednesday 3 November at 19:30, Irvine Welsh, acclaimed author of ‘Trainspotting’, will feature in two separate events.
The following day, Welsh will be joined by Dr Immanuel Mifsud, writer, poet and Senior Lecturer within the Department of Maltese, to discuss Welsh’s influence on Maltese literature.
On Saturday 6 November, the Council will be paying tribute to the literary achievements of Trevor Zahra.
A year since the passing of Oliver Friggieri, who was a member of the Department of Maltese at University, the Council will commemorate his literary legacy through panel discussions of the writer’s life.
Turning the spotlight on works of Maltese literature that are steadily finding foreign readership, on Saturday 6 November the Festival will be bringing together a number of foreign publishers who have invested in bringing works of Maltese literature in translation to wider audiences in Arabic, Spanish, and English-speaking countries.
The full programme of events will be published in the coming weeks. For the latest updates, please follow the , and the .
