Four Maltese authors will hold readings at a Brussels literary cafe next month as part of a National Bok Council event timed to coincide with Malta's EU Council presidency. 

Loranne Vella.

The two events will take place on March 17 and 18 at Librebook-Bruxelles, a literary cafe which offers a selection of novels in more than 20 European languages.

2016 Terramaxka Prize winner Loranne Vella will kick off proceedings on March 17 at 6pm with a reading of an English translation of one of her works, These Four Rooms of Mine. 

She will be followed by Alex Vella Gera, who will treat the audience to excerpts from his novel Trojan, which won him the 2016 National Book Prize for prose, as well as passages from his novel L-Antipodi.

The following day will see Clare Azzopardi read from her books Il-Qtates ta' max-Xatt, Mingu and Gużeppina, as well as from her collection of short stories Kulħadd Ħalla Isem Warajħ. 

Ms Azzopardi's 2pm reading will be immediately followed by poet, writer and intellectual Maria Grech Ganado, who has received widespread acclaim for poems such as Jum San Valentin, Ix-Xwejħa u s-Suldat, Għajrek and Temminx Fiha. Ms Grech Ganado was awarded a Medal for Service to the Republic in 2000 and a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016 for her work. 

Clare Azzopardi (left) and Maria Grech Ganado (right).