Following months of preparation, the 2020 Malta Book Festival – virtual edition kicks off Wednesday 11 November with a varied programme of events and activities for audiences of all ages. New to this virtual edition, the Festival officially opens already on Tuesday evening with the awards ceremony for the winners of the Terramaxka National Book Prize for children and adolescents.
Starting from the morning of Wednesday 11 November and running until Sunday 15 November, you’ll be able to enjoy all events on the online programme for free, streamed straight into your home, and broadcast via the National Book Council website and Facebook page.
On the occasion of this first online book festival, the National Book Council in collaboration with participating publishers have curated a special programme intended to convey the same spirit of inventiveness, exchange and creativity as every year – to an even wider book-loving community. More than 60 events make part of the 2020 Malta Book Festival programme, including book launches and presentations, meetings with authors, working groups and discussions, as well as an array of activities for children. Among the international guests for this edition we will be welcoming the celebrated author of The Satanic Verses, and his masterwork of magic realism, Midnight’s Children, Sir Salman Rushdie. Rushdie will be joining the National Book Prize Lifetime Achievement Award Dr Alfred Sant in conversation, and participating in a digital Q&A.
The 2020 Malta Book Festival will also be welcoming more than 10,000 students who have registered to follow a series of performances based on Terramaxka Prize winning works. In support of their reading experience and encounter with books by Maltese publishers, they have each received a €5 voucher which can be redeemed from the online stores of booksellers and publishers participating in the Festival.
