The author FRANCESCO GRECH’s debut book of poetry kollox jeħel magħna can swallow its readers whole, engulfing them into the poet’s innermost self. The writer speaks with Lara Zammit about his work.

In kollox jeħel magħna, a book of poetry by Francesco Grech with illustrations by Danielle Sant, the author reveals his innermost self. He divulges in its pages that, were it not for his writing, he would have descended into darkness. Grech expresses in his poetry some of the darkness that has made its way into his life.

I ask, has this work been an attempt to expunge this darkness or perhaps to make peace with it? “It has been an attempt to do both”, he answers. “But the true reason why I talk about this darkness is that it is more common than one may think, and we need more people to speak up.”

Speaking up, he continues, will in turn raise awareness and will help more people to seek help through therapy and other remedies. 

Within the darkness revealed in kollox jeħel magħna are the many faces of love, described in many forms and semblances. In one of the poems, Grech speaks about how the love he is accustomed to is “l-imħabba tad-daqqiet” (the love of blows), supposing that perhaps he does not deserve any other kind of love.

Asked to describe his view on love, whether personally or otherwise, Grech says that he sees love in itself as a violent emotion.

Love is such a strong feeling… it is very difficult to control

“It is such a strong feeling that it is very difficult to control and can take you anywhere. This is of course my personal experience with love till now. In the book, I try to explore these ‘violent’ feelings of love: from one end the euphoric side of it and from the other the toxic side of love that can come out from unhealthy relationships.” 

Also tangled amid the short stanzas of his works is the author’s homeland of Gozo, often depicted in less than favourable light, referring to the island as small in both in size and mentality.

“That Gozo is small is a fact,” says Grech. “There are no two ways to go about it. From my experience, most of the time it is still a very closed community which makes it more difficult to be different and unique.

“In fact, I have a love-hate relationship with Gozo. On one end, it is my home. It is where my family lives and where I spent 18 years of my life. On the other hand, it gives me a suffocating feeling that unless you are part of a system you get chucked out and frowned upon.

“In my book, I try to offer my experience as a way of how society in Gozo can grow and move forward while keeping its uniqueness.” 

A multitude of facets of the author’s life are depicted in his poetry, including his experience of Maltese politics, at one point saying of politicians “kollha reqdin fl-istess sodda” (they’re all sleeping in the same bed). 

“I am very much involved in politics because it is also my passion. Of course, authors have the liberty to exaggerate but I wrote that particular poem at a time where both main parties were wound up in different scandals. However, from when I wrote that piece to today, I gained hope that the situation is slowly improving.” 

kollox jeħel magħna by Francesco Grech is available at all leading bookshops and from the Merlin Publishers website.