SKS Publishers will pay tribute to Alfred Sant’s literary gems during the Campus Book Festival 2020.  Sant’s literary works published by SKS La Bidu, La Tmiem 1599, Ġorġ Bush f’Malta, Bħal f’Dizzjunarju, L-ewwel weraq tal-bajtar, Pupu fil-Baħar,Ċpar,WESTERN : Bejn Rakkonti, Bejn Divertimenti and  Qabel tiftaħ l-inkjesta u drammi oħra will be exhibited at the SKS stand. SKS will also display the first volume of Sant’s autobiography Confessions of a European Maltese.

Alfred Sant has been awarded the 2019 National Book Prize Lifetime Achievement Award, a prestigious recognition  for the role he played in enriching Maltese literature and society

Ever since the publication of his serialised debut novel L-Ewwel Weraq tal-Bajtar (The first fig-leaves) in 1968, Alfred Sant has established himself as one of Malta's most innovative prose writers.

In 1967 he had already shown his penchant for innovation when he started writing for the theatre and working closely with other young post-Independence writers who would revolutionise the Maltese literary scene. In his first novel he took the advice of W. Somerset Maugham, a writer he has always admired, and wrote about his younger days.

But his other novels and short stories ventured beyond the world he knew and are testament to his ability to tell stories that travel far and wide and experiment with different structures and styles.

This is due to his many literary influences – many innovative writers are almost inevitably avid readers - and to his insatiable thirst for exploring new avenues. In 2011 he published the unorthodox novel Bħal f'Dizzjunarju (SKS), a novel whose chapters can be read in any order. And in 2016 he published Western: Bejn Rakkonti, Bejn Divertimenti (SKS), a collection of short stories inspired by the Western and the largely untold stories of Maltese emigration.

The moral of the story is that Alfred Sant has never stopped rewriting his script.

The Book Festival will take place between Wednesday 25 and Friday 27 March at the University of Malta.