Acclaimed American editor, anthologist and publisher Ann VanderMeer will be among the special guests at the Malta Book Festival, organised by the National Book Council and taking place at the Malta Fairs and Conventions Centre (MFCC), Ta' Qali from 5-9 November. 

Currently serving as acquiring editor for Reactormag.com, VanderMeer won the prestigious Hugo Award for her stint as the second-ever female editor of Weird Tales - a genre magazine with significant historical pedigree, having first published the likes of HP Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard and many others, and which under her purview, from 2007 to 2011, moved to represent a modernised scope of this expansive genre. 

Notably, she has also co-edited a number of groundbreaking genre anthologies with her husband Jeff - also a guest at this year's festival. These include The Weird: A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories, for which the VanderMeers took home the World Fantasy Award, the Locus Award and a British Fantasy Award; The Big Book of Science Fiction, The Big Book of Classic Fantasy and The Big Book of Modern Fantasy, among others. 

At the Malta Book Festival, she will be leading a workshop entitled How to work with professional editors, during which she will encourage participants to deepen their understanding of editing and revision through a series of short lectures and fun, dynamic exercises.