The National Book Council is pleased to announce that the Malta Book Fund 2025 adjudication board has agreed on the winning submissions for this year's edition. 31 projects will be receiving funding for publication or translation through the Malta Book Fund.
Together with an increase in the overall budget allocation, a number of key innovations were introduced this year. Notably, the Fund has now gone fully online in a bid to streamline the overall process, with revised guidelines to ensure clarity and efficiency.
The winning projects have been chosen according to a set of established criteria, including the completeness of the submission, cultural and educational value of the project, its engagement with the publishing market and target audience, feasibility and costings.
The Malta Book Fund 2025 Adjudication Board was composed of Nikki Petroni, Kurstin Gatt, Francine Farrugia and Daniel Xerri, who independently assessed each submission.
The adjudicators expressed optimism about the quality of submissions across various strands, describing the overall picture as "one of promise and creative energy" which confirms a "robust demand for support in literary and cultural production".
"Many projects demonstrated thoughtful engagement with their subject matter and a commitment to enriching public understanding through both creative and scholarly approaches," they said, adding that an encouraging number of submissions in the research and non-fiction strands sought to highlight oft-neglected aspects of Maltese historiography, while creative projects distinguished themselves for their experimentation with genre and medium.
"Such innovation signals a growing confidence in pushing beyond conventional publishing formats," the adjudicators said, while also noting some shortcomings throughout. These include a substantial number of incomplete proposals, and applications submitted with vague budgeting plans, which put into question the feasibility of the projects. Notably, many submissions also lacked a clear marketing plan, which the adjudicators found particularly problematic given the reality of a declining readership in the country, which necessitates a greater promotional push in order for new books to gain traction.
By the application period deadline on 20 May, the 2025 Malta Book Fund received a total of 72 submissions across all strands of the Fund. The budget for the 2025 edition was €135,000, as follows:
- €55,000 for Publishing Grants for New Books;
- €10,000 for Publishing Grants for New Editions of Out-of-Print Works;
- €45,000 for Grants for the Translation and Export of books by Maltese authors;
- €5,000 for Book Translation Pitch Grants;
- €20,000 for Grants for Translations into Maltese.
Applicants who fail to receive funds in a particular year are not barred from applying again during the next call for applications, whether with the same project or a different one.
Each applicant will receive a comprehensive report on their application, which will include both the marks and the general comments submitted by adjudicators.
The NBC will contact the winning applicants to sign a beneficiary's contract, which allows a two-year (24 months) period from the date of signing to publish the book.
All the funded projects according to their strand can be found here: bit.ly/3UcDhSQ