Special guest! Acclaimed Spanish author Esther García Llovet will be at the Malta Book Festival 2026

The critically-acclaimed Spanish author Esther García Llovet will be a special guest at this year’s edition of the Malta Book Festival, taking place at MFCC, Ta’ Qali between the 4th and 8th November and organised by the National Book Council (NBC).

Esther García Llovet will be interviewed by interdisciplinary artist, filmmaker and researcher Charlie Cauchi on Friday, 6th November at 19:00 at the Sala tal-Kittieba. Entrance is free but registration is required via Submittable here.

García Llovet’s participation completes the roster of international guests at this year’s Festival, which will also have the honour of hosting world-famous Scottish crime writer Ian Rankin.

García Llovet was born in Málaga in 1963. She moved to Madrid in 1970 to study clinical psychology and film direction, and she has lived there ever since. She started writing in 2000 and has written eight novels, including the three novels of her acclaimed Snapshot Trilogy of Madrid. Spanish Beauty is the first episode of her new Trilogy of the Spanish Levant.

Her works have achieved critical success and cult status for their intense, cinematic style and offbeat Chandleresque realism. García Llovet writes for several different cultural anthologies and periodicals, is a translator from English and a well-respected photographer.

García Llovet’s narrative works have carved a significant niche in international contemporary fiction; offering readers an unfiltered glimpse of present-day Spain. In Spanish Beauty, Llovet turns sleaze into oblique beauty, bringing in crime noir aesthetics to her depiction of the infamous portside party city of Benidorm; while The Times Literary Supplement describes Sánchez, her second work to be translated into English, as “a novel about the underbelly of glittering Madrid”.

“We are thrilled to host Esther García Llovet at this year’s edition of the Malta Book Festival, as she is an ideal fit for our event in so many ways. Her work is firmly steeped in the Mediterranean sensibility which will scan as familiar to Maltese readers despite the particularities of the Spanish setting,” NBC Executive Chairperson Mark Camilleri said, while also thanking the Embassy of Spain in Malta for supporting the author’s participation at the event.

“Coupled with her grasp of both the cinematic idiom and playful interjection of crime fiction tropes, her slim but bracing novels allow the reader a glimpse into the real Spain – the kind they will not find on the tourist trail. They speak to literature’s enduring ability to communicate beyond cliches and established narrative to reveal deeper truths.

“So we once again invite visitors to Uncover the Story… and the many stories that will be on offer at the Malta Book Festival,” Camilleri added.

The Malta Book Festival will be taking place between 4-8 November at the MFCC, Ta’ Qali. Esther García Llovet will be in conversation with Charlie Cauchi during a public event on Friday, 6th November at 19:00. The event will be followed by a book signing. Attendance is free but registration is required via Submittable.

Esther García Llovet’s participation was made possible with the support of the Embassy of Spain in Malta.

Will you be attending this year's Malta Book Festival?