Saturday, November 18, 2006
LANZAROTE EXCLUSIVE: Authors outnumber readers in remarkable island.
There's no doubt about it. As people are wont to tell you in these parts, Malta is a unique place. But nobody thought that the Mediterranean outpost would actually become the first country in the world which - barring compulsory textbooks - boasts more authors scribbling away their opuses than readers pouring over these literary gems. Nonetheless, the atmosphere was jovial and upbeat at yesterday's National Book Awards. Nobody was injured by the heaving crowd as it surged forward in its insatiable hunt for autographs. More importantly, any hint of debate about the actual content of the numerous nominated works was, as they also say in these parts, 'conspicuous by its absence' while the controversy which surrounds events such as the Prix Goncourt or The Booker was healthily kept at bay in a spirit of solidarity. Book Council chairman Gorg Mallia would only limit himself to confessing to the assembled hacks that "we need to weed out the ones that are not good, or at least help them become better" adding, somewhat apocalyptically, "At the moment it's a bit of a jungle out there. You do get some excellent works, but then there are some publications, which, for example, lack in illustrations."
Lanzarote did manage to get a quick comment from young author and translator Pierre J. Mejlak who clinched the top gong in the 'Translations of Books for Children and Adolescents' category. "Narakom Brussell u ixtruli birra mill-Porte Noire" he said as our paparazzi circled round the handsome writer and his mysterious companion like famished vultures.
¶ 4:50 AM Lanzarote did manage to get a quick comment from young author and translator Pierre J. Mejlak who clinched the top gong in the 'Translations of Books for Children and Adolescents' category. "Narakom Brussell u ixtruli birra mill-Porte Noire" he said as our paparazzi circled round the handsome writer and his mysterious companion like famished vultures.
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UNDERRATED BLOG AWARDS
In another 'prize-day' development, Lanzarote has nominated itself (without any hint of irony) as 'Most Underrated Blog in the Glorious Maltese Blogosphere'. The second prize was awarded to Fool's Cap while Malta , 9 Thermidor scooped up the bronze medal. None of these brilliant individuals were available for comment.
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Fis-sensiela 'fatti inutli' u 'for the record' Mejlak u Lanzarote daqu l-birer St.Feuillien u Barbar fit-tverna La Porte Noire. L-effett fuq iz-zewg protagonisti kien kemmxejn differenti.
Tkompli mas-sensiela.
F'konferenza ta' l-ahbarijiet moghtija quddiem il-bini ta' Dar Malta llejla fis-sitta, Mejlak, bix-xalla madwar ghonqu, habbar programm gdid ta' hidma, bl-isem BIDU GDID. L-ewwel attivita' llejla stess, bit-tema "Daqsxejn Bejz Eccezzjonali". Mistiedna Specjali: A.
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F'konferenza ta' l-ahbarijiet moghtija quddiem il-bini ta' Dar Malta llejla fis-sitta, Mejlak, bix-xalla madwar ghonqu, habbar programm gdid ta' hidma, bl-isem BIDU GDID. L-ewwel attivita' llejla stess, bit-tema "Daqsxejn Bejz Eccezzjonali". Mistiedna Specjali: A.
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