The beginning of this year marked the 50th anniversary of poet Mary Mejlak’s demise.

Mejlak hailed from Gozo and, at the start of the 20th century, the island was very sparse of persons of academic calibre. However, from time to time, Gozo provided individuals who managed to leave an indelible imprint on the island’s literary spectrum. Mejlak was one such person and, for some decades of the 21st century, she maintained the title of Malta’s first female poet.

Mejlak was born on January 5, 1905. She was the second child among six siblings of George and Maryanne née Grech. The family residence was at 6, St Joseph Street, Victoria, where she spent her whole life. Her home was a few metres away from St George parish church and across the demolished church of St Joseph. Her father was a goldsmith, and hence he could afford a solid upbringing to all his children.

Mary Mejlak

Mary Mejlak’s parents George and Maryanne née Grech. Photo: St George parish church archive

The house where Mejlak was born and resided throughout her life. Photo: St George parish church archive

St Joseph Street at the time of Mejlak’s life. Photo: Retro Gozo

Mejlak attended Victoria primary school and went on to the secondary school popularly known as the Central School. She showed great intellect from an early age and had a propensity to writing. As she confided in a short interview on the national Rediffusion four weeks before her demise, she would draw inspiration from anything for her writings.

In the interview, she revealed that she always held a pencil and a piece of paper to write down whatever crossed her mind. She was inspired to take up writing by her mother.

She recounted that when she was a student at the Central School, she used to write the homework compositions of her classmates against a payment of one penny. However, the Italian language teacher queried about the surprising knowledge contained in the children’s works. He insisted to know who was writing the compositions and they all answered “Mary Mejlak!”

Her works are full of imaginations conveyed in simple language that beckon the reader to enter her world of dreams

St Mary’s Grammar School in Republic Street, Victoria. Photo: St George parish church archive

Mejlak started teaching mathematics and history of Malta to pupils at Għarb Girls’ Primary School at the early age of 20. She used to cycle every day to Għarb and back along the rough, winding roads. From time to time, she also taught at Għarb Boys’ Primary School. She was even assigned to teach Maltese. Eventually, she sat for the Senior Oxford Exam on July 14, 1925, in Malta.

She stayed in her grade as a teacher of pupils in other primary schools until 1944 when she started to teach the Maltese language at the Gozo secondary school known as St Mary’s Grammar School until she retired in 1962 at the age of 56.

The prolific writer was besotted with penning. Her first attempt to write poetry was when she was 19 when she wrote Faxx Nemel (A line of ants) after having observed ants going up and down a wall.

She confessed that she had no friends except for two past school inspectors: a Miss Vella and a Miss Carabott. Her outing consisted only of the distance between her residence and the parish church, which was a stone’s throw away. She would also keep in contact with her past students who happenned to cross her path in Victoria and who used to ask her about her works.

The epoch in which Mejlak lived was mainly a male-dominated society. The role of women was mostly restricted to the upbringing of children and to the upkeep of the house.

Mejlak, being a single, uncommitted lady, pushed the prejudicial boundaries of this stereotypical society with her incessant writings on uncontroversial subjects that appealed to the common reader. She even succeeded to print her works in book form, a feat unheard of by a woman at the time.

The present contributor heard a number of anecdotes as recounted by individuals who came across Mejlak and briefly chatted with her. They all agree that she was greatly captivated with her unremitting pen, to the extent that she barely took care of her daily needs.

Some of Mejlak’s manuscripts. Photo: St George parish church archive

Her 1972 novels printed in four volumes, Stejjer ta’ Dawn il-Gżejjer (Stories of These Islands), were the result of her accepting a challenge proffered by a person who instigated her to write a fresh story every day.

Some secondary school girls still reminisce about seeing her at school breaks having her lunch consisting of a fresh cheese balanced on a cabbage leaf! They even used to hear her reciting a short prayer every time a storm hit the Maltese islands “Santa Barbara, la deni u anqas ħsara …Ħarisna mis-sajjetti, indokra lill-baħħara” (St Barbara, neither harm nor damage… . Protect us from thunderbolts and look after the sailors).

A passport application of Mejlak. 1938. Photo: National Archives of Malta

In the third and fourth decades of the 20th century, the Maltese cultural landscape was dominated by the heated debates about the Language Question. Mejlak was well aware about the ongoing question, added to the fact that she was a teacher and a prolific Maltese language writer. It is also presumed that she discussed the Language Question directly with the stalwarts of the Maltese language, Ninu Cremona and Joseph Aquilina.

She indirectly promoted the native language with her writings, notwithstanding not being a member of the Maltese Academy. Her output consisted of poems, novels, essays and theatrical operettas, in which the strength of the Maltese word was amply expressed. She published her literary output in the paper Għawdex and in the periodical of the Maltese Academy, Leħen il-Malti, with which she was registered as member in December 1937. She enjoyed the title of being the first Maltese female poet for a long time until the emergence of other female poets in the Maltese literary landscape.

Some of Mejlak’s manuscripts. Photo: St George parish church archive

Mejlak never encountered any difficulty with her writings, which were very spontaneous and naturally expressed. Her vocabulary contained strong semitic traits. Her works were completely devoid of any continental influences and were the result solely of the insular background of her surroundings.

Her works are full of imaginations conveyed in simple language that beckon the reader to enter her world of dreams. This is strongly felt throughout her literary output. Although poems formed the bulk of her works, she preferred writing prose to poems because she felt that people were more used to it.

Mejlak in her old age. Photo: St George parish church archive

The tombstone of Mejlak’s family. Photo: Author’s collection

Mejlak was renowned to be a dedicated teacher and her commitment to her students was thorough. She refrained from writing introductions for publications of her own works. However, when she was asked whether she was still inclined to teaching, Mejlak replied: “I do not long for it. I still regret the time spent teaching because I should have dedicated my life to writing. Were it so, I would have made Malta overflow with my writing.”

Mejlak’s pen remained hectic till the last days of her life. There are still works in manuscript form that hopefully will be published in future and add to the richness of the Maltese language.

Her last days were spent at the old Gozo hospital recovering from illness. She passed away on the first day of the year 1975. She is buried at St Mary’s Cemetery in Xewkija.