British best-selling author Louis de Bernieres, famous for his novels Captain Corelli’s Mandolin and Birds Without Wings, is visiting Malta on Wednesday and Thursday.

De Bernieres will read extracts from Birds Without Wings to university students in Lecture Theatre Two, University of Malta, Msida, on Wednesday at 1pm. A question-and-answer session will follow the reading. A book-signing session will take place at the Agenda Bookshop on Campus at 3pm. On the same day, de Bernieres will have another reading session in the Music Room at St James Cavalier in Valletta at 7pm. Tickets at Lm1 can be booked on tel.: 2122-3200 or 2122-3216 or by email to:

[email protected].

On Thursday, book signings will take place at Sapienza Bookshop in Valletta at 12.30pm, and at the Agenda Bookshop at the Valletta Waterfront at 6pm.

De Bernières was born in London in 1954. He joined the army at 18 years but left after four months. He graduated at the Victoria University of Manchester and obtained his MA at the University of London.

Before writing full time, he held many varied jobs including landscape gardener, motorcycle messenger and car mechanic. He also taught English in Colombia, an experience which determined the style and setting of his first three novels, The War of Don Emmanuel’s Nether Parts (1990), Señor Vivo and the Coca Lord (1991) and The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman (1992), each of which was heavily influenced by South American literature.

In 1993, he was selected as one of the 20 Best of Young British Novelists Two promotion in Granta magazine.

His fourth novel, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin was published in the following year, winning the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize (Best Book). A film adaptation of the novel was released in 2001, and the novel has also been adapted for the stage. In 2001, Red Dog was published. He also wrote the introduction to The Book of Job, one in a series of books reprinted from the Bible and published individually by Canongate Press in 1998.

His most recent novel is Birds Without Wings (2004), shortlisted for the 2004 Whitbread Novel Award and the 2005 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize (Eurasia Region, Best Book).

De Bernieres is also a regular contributor of short stories to various newspapers and magazines.

De Bernieres’ visit is being coordinated by the British Council and Miller Distributors Limited.