VictorFenech

Fenech was born in 1935, in Ħamrun. He completed his studies at the University of Malta graduating in English, History and Maltese. At the University of London he specialised in writing and book production. He spent most of his life in the education sector, wrote a number of children’s books and was an editor of the student magazine Sagħtar.

Kwartett (1965) was Fenech’s first co-authored publication, the poems reflecting his later work with the Moviment Qawmien Letterarju, as they combine traditional and modern style and structure. Over the years he has experimented with various forms of poetry including prose-poetry, projective verse and visual verse. There is also this palpable need to stay relevant as Fenech tackles the merging influences on the individual and the collective.

Important works, which are close to Fenech’s heart include his novel Ix-Xitwa ta’ wara s-Sjuf (The Winter that follows the Summers, Horizons, 2010), poetry collection Il-Poeżiji (Klabb Kotba Maltin, 2011) and also Malta Poema Viżiva (Horizons, 2014). Ix-Xitwa ta’ wara s-Sjuf juxtaposes today’s life with that of the ’60s; and as the chapters alternate in time so do the seasons they portray. Il-Poeżiji, is a collection of his published works over nearly half a decade. The poems appear chronologically so that the reader may appreciate his poetic growth. There are around 200 poems and 300 haiku – some spontaneous, others worked and reworked. A completely new take on Maltese poetry is Fenech’s visual verse, which he explored in Malta Poema Viżiva. This work captures selected episodes from Malta’s historic timescape.

Fenech is also known for his translations, perhaps mostly for The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran, as Il-Profeta (Klabb Kotba Maltin, 2008) for which he won the National Book Council Literary Award. In this translation Fenech stayed true to the mystical stance and flow of Gibran’s writing whilst also allowing for measured originality, making this translation feel and read very much like the original work. In 2017 he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the National Book Council and in 2019 Ġieħ l-Akkademja by the Akkademja tal-Malti for his lifetime contribution to Maltese academia.

There are many themes bringing Fenech’s work together, social responsibility and protest being at the forefront. There is always a trace, a fine political thread running through his poetry that goes to show his interest in the betterment of our society and environment. He also tackles the past with a hint of nostalgia, belief and religion, death and the hope that lies with that beyond; but perhaps most important of all, love.

Silence, solitude and humility abound in Fenech’s life and pieces, as for him there is something which transcends the work of a poet, a creative; something which goes beyond mere mortal comprehension, and perhaps it is that mysterious something which we find a trace of in his verse.