Il-Ħajja ta’ Karmenu Vassallo, a new publication featuring Karmenu Vassallo’s life and his poetry will be launched next Friday at the Ċentru Nazzjonali Laburista at 6.30pm during an evening commemorating the poet’s demise 25 years ago. Karmenu Vassallo (1913-1987), the Siġġiewi-born poet, is one of the mainstays of Maltese literature. His merited place among Malta’s elite men of letters has long been established.
The book is an extensive and in-depth biography of Karmenu Vassallo whose poetry collection Nirien inspired the author, Marcel Zammit Marmarà, to draw on all available primary sources in order to depict the poet in his entirety. Researched meticulously, the book is a comprehensive study of the poet’s life in relation to his works.
The publication is the result of intensive research built on primary sources. The author has drawn on autobiographical notes as well as four hundred letters written by Vassallo some of which were collected from as far as Australia, Ireland and Canada. Readers have the opportunity to see a copy of some letters by leading authors and scholars that include Dun Karm Psaila, Dr Anton Buttigieg, Prof. Mons. Pietru Pawl Saydon, Ġorġ Pisani, and Prof Oliver Friggieri.
Zammit Marmarà interviewed several colleagues, old friends, acquaintances, and former students who knew Vassallo well, some of whom have since passed away. The author, determined not to leave any stone unturned, tapped another important source of information, namely thirty-nine interviews with the poet, recorded on tape with a time-span from 1959 to 1986. In the course of his research the author has uncovered no less than forty pseudonyms consequently leading to some unknown earlier works written by Vassallo before establishing himself as one of the leading poets.
The biographer embarks on a journey from cradle to grave through all the main phases and episodes in both Vassallo’s life and literary development. Il-poeta tan-nirien (ablaze) as he was affectionately known was above all a philosopher in search of answers to existential questions and a poet in constant communication with God. The poet’s universal literary qualities are the point of reference throughout the biography.
The general public is invited to attend the launch of the book. Entrance free. A reception will follow.