Book Fair opens in Valletta

Local authors have an important role to play as they pen literature that gives a voice to the evolving island and highlight issues that should be addressed, Education Minister Dolores Cristina said.

Books, she added, were to be celebrated because they provided an opportunity to read and open up minds. Ms Cristina was speaking at the opening of the Book Fair that will be held at the Mediterranean Conference Centre, Valletta, between today and Sunday.

The National Book Council has been organising the event since the 1970s, moving away from the trade fair grounds in Naxxar in 2006.

This was a positive move as people stopped perceiving the fair as a bazaar and, for the past years, it has been attracting thousands of book lovers and an increasing number of students, she said.

Ms Cristina encouraged local authors to keep writing and thanked publishers for investing in writers and believing in the book industry.

The fair will bring together about 20 publishers including Allied Publications that will be launching five books: Cross-Currents, Critical Essays on Art and Culture in Malta by Raphael Vella; Jasmine Blossoms for All Time by Oliver Friggieri; Habitat, Malta's Natural Heritage by Paul Portelli; Recollections of a Malta HAA Funner by Maurice Agius and Castille Behind the Scenes by Henry Coppini.