Celebrating The Pictures That Bring Storytelling To Life At The Malta Book Festival
They say a picture can paint a thousand words, and while the expression is somewhat of a cliché, it is so because of how perfectly it sums up the power of visual stimuli for effective storytelling.
From the images in ads or those on book and magazine covers, to comics and graphic novels or even diagrams in textbooks, this year’s Malta Book Festival will be celebrating the pictures and illustrations that bring much of what we read everyday to life.
This year’s festival will run from the 23rd to the 27th November at the Malta Fairs and Conventions Centre in Ta’ Qali and, as always, will include a host of activities for visitors of all ages.
The programme for this year’s festival is now launched and can be accessed here. It includes events such as the dramatization of different literary texts, activities for younger visitors, as well as several lectures and keynote addresses to ensure there really is something to tickle everyone’s fancy.
At the centre-stage, alongside the various exhibitors, will be the From Illustration to Book exhibition which bridges visual arts with literature and will provide a showcase for those illustrators and graphic designers working in and around the publishing industry.
The National Book Council has kept up the tradition of hosting international guest authors to share their views with audiences. Past guests have included heavyweights like Salman Rushdie, Naomi Klein, Tim Parks to name a few, and this year will be no different.
John Boyne, the best-selling author of The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas, will be
headlining the event this year, as part of the international book tour for the publication of his critically acclaimed latest novel, All the Broken Places (Doubleday), a sequel to the former. He has authored works of fiction for audiences of all ages, including several best-sellers.
Boyne will discuss his work and life with lecturer and author Leanne Ellul on Friday evening. He will also take part in a show for schoolchildren where he will be joined by other authors including Gattaldo – renowned art director, illustrator and the man behind the children’s book Fearless, The Story of Daphne Caruana Galizia.
The Maltese version of the book, Il-Ġurnalista, L-Istorja ta’ Daphne Caruana Galizia which has been adapted to the local language by award-winning author Immanuel Mifsud, will be launched during this year’s festival.
Not to be missed will be comic journalist Joe Sacco’s interview on Thursday. Sacco is one of the pioneers of using comics as a medium for his journalism covering deadly conflicts around the world.
By focusing on the more personal experiences of those closest to such conflicts, Sacco is able to make readers experience the protagonists’ plight in a manner mainstream journalism can’t quite do.
Born in Malta in 1960, Sacco grew up in Australia and later the US, where he is currently based. Sacco will be discussing the power of his type of journalism with veteran journalist James Debono. On Saturday, Sacco will also be a part of the panel discussion ‘What’s an image worth – forms of visual storytelling’ moderated by Teodor Reljić.
Since it evolved into its current format back in 2013 the Malta Book Festival has well and truly cemented its position as one of the highlights of the local festival calendar and one of the best manifestations of Maltese creativity.
While we might not all be bookworms, we’ve all had a work of literature leave an impression on us at some point or another in our lives. The Malta Book Festival is the perfect way of celebrating all the emotions and experiences that books, in all their forms, have given us.
Entrance for the festival is free. For the latest updates, please follow the NBC website, and the NBC Facebook page and Malta Book Festival 2022 Facebook event page.
Are you going to the Malta Book Festival this year?