Mark Camilleri Requests Further Funding From Ian Borg’s Ministry For New Book
Mark Camilleri has publicly requested that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs grant him more money to fund his next venture, translating an anthology of “mischievous” Maltese literature into English and selling it in London.
Camilleri, who runs the Dar Camilleri publishing house, tweeted that he would be “fucked” if the Ministry of Foreign Affairs doesn’t help him out with his latest venture.
He said he lost money selling a translated version of Maltese-Palestinian author Walid Nabhan’s Exodus of the Storks in London this year but that he will try again next year with a new book because he loves his country, language and culture.
“I want a Dar Camilleri book in every London bookshop, a process that I will be working on until I die,” he said.
Camilleri told Lovin Malta that the Foreign Affairs Ministry gave him €3,000 for his work on Nabhan’s book, which included translating it into English, purchasing his rights from his UK publisher, buying his stock and promoting the book in the UK, which included an event at a bookshop.
Camilleri has previously praised Ian Borg’s work as Foreign Affairs Minister and in fact came out against calls for Borg to resign in the wake of the driving license scandal on the grounds that his work aligning Malta with the West is too important.
Despite his criticism of government funding of private media, he dismissed suggestions that this money is a sign that Borg is buying him out.
“I had never been Ian Borg’s friend when I was with Labour,” he said. “When he became Minister for Foreign Affairs he started to take good positions, changing completely the horrible positions that Evarist Bartolo had taken previously as Minister of Foreign Affairs.”
“Having said that I greatly appreciate that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has the courage to support my export work. I can assure you that the OPM is not happy that I have this tiny bit of support and OPM genuinely wants me cut off from all public financing.”
“I apply for the cultural fund from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs like anyone else. Last year the Ministry even funded a play on Daphne Caruana Galizia that was held somewhere in Europe. So, it doesn’t mean anything that I am receiving funds from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”
Camilleri warned the National Book Council he used to chair for over seven years is discriminating against him by significantly funding his competitors at the London-based Praspar Press, but not Dar Camilleri.
“The book council is fully funding the exports and operations of Praspar Press, and they pay for their flights to London, Malta, publications etc,” he said.
Current chairman Mark Camilleri mocks previous chairman Mark Camilleri as "the exiled guy"
“I don’t have these privileges and the Book Council didn’t give me a free ticket to attend the London Book Fair, even though they have around 40 tickets to distribute for free every year and they didn’t consume them all. I had to buy a ticket myself which cost £100.”
He went on to suggest that this is actually a strategy by Education Minister Clifton Grima, who is in charge of the National Book Council, to curry favour with Prime Minister Robert Abela.
He also noted a Facebook comment by the current Book Council chairman, his namesake Mark Camilleri, which mocked him as “that exiled guy”.
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