Book Council boss Mark Camilleri’s contract not renewed

The long-serving executive chairman of the National Book Council, Mark Camilleri, will not be granted another contract for his post.

The Republic Day honoree and anti-censorship activist was one of the Council’s most ardent reformers, respected by the book industry and authors for his achievements in obtaining greater recognition on royalties and rights programmes, and other funds.

Camilleri’s political bluntness also became a feature of his tenure, never shying away from calling out the shortcomings of the Labour administration, despite being a paid-up member of the PL.

Camilleri announced on Facebook that his conrtact had not been renewed by the education ministry.

“I spent more than seven years building this entity which didn’t even have any employees when I had entered office. I built an entity with a virtually zero budget to an entity with a budget of more than €1 million per year. I was a work-martyr for our book industry which literally needed saving and we ended up increasing sales and revenues for the industry substantially,” he said.

Camilleri said that under his tenure, the NBC modernised its legal framework and obtained a premises in Valletta which is slated to become its new headquarters.

“The list of successes is endless and I won’t bore you with the details. Everything has already been written and published... The only reason I survived in my post during Labour’s new administration was only thanks to the authors and publishers who have supported me since then. I thank you deeply from my heart. I also thank my fellow team members who have been great and extremely supportive. Makes me sad I didn’t get a proper send-off, but I don’t expect much in life. I regret nothing. And I will be back.

Anti-censorship activist

As the editor of a minor university pamphlet, Realtà, in 2010 the young Mark Camilleri was reported to the police by the University of Malta administration for publishing a short story by acclaimed author Alex Vella Gera. Charged unsuccessfully on obscenity charges, with then Attorney General Peter Grech appealing the acquittal – again unsuccessfully – Camilleri became the recipient of a Republic Day honour in 2013. He slept in and missed the ceremony.

Diary malfunctions apart, Camilleri became an instrumental part of the Labour government’s anti-censorship drive. Together with his campaign activists Ingram Bondin and lawyer Andrew Sciberras, he contributed in great part to the reform in censorship laws which did away with obscenity as a criminal charge; as well as playing a part in a rewrite of the Media and Defamation Act that had been first pushed by leading newspapers.

His biggest contribution has been revolutionising the National Book Council by forcing bigger public spending on its activities: royalties for Maltese authors from lending rights, a convention of writers to push for legal changes, A-list celebrity writers invited to the Malta Book Festival, and one of the biggest ever national promotions of Maltese literature over the course of seven full years.

Even as a paid-up Labour member, Camilleri never shied away from being his own party’s critic, and unforgiving in his treatment of the “Castille gang” that created Panamagate.

In April 2021, after sensing a bid to have him ousted of his post, Camilleri announced he will organise an election for writers and publishers to appoint the next head of the NBC. Camilleri said he will contest the position to earn himself a three-year tenure, having served since 2013 at the helm of the Council. “If I am reconfirmed at the headship of the NBC, the government will have a greater obligation to support the Council by implementing its legal mandate through the National Congress of Writers,” Camilleri said.