Poet

The son of Paul Vella and Carmela Mifsud, John Mary was born in Sliema. He studied at the Lyceum and the Franciscan seminary in Malta. Vella joined the Franciscan Minors Order on 16 September 1945 and was given the name of  Marianus. He was ordained priest on 3 August 1952.  In 1953 he was put in charge of the novices and taught Italian at St Anthony’s Seraphic College in Gozo (1953-1956) and at Stella Maris College (1956-1959). He also taught Maltese and Italian to the Franciscan students taking up classical and medieval studies in philosophy. In 1960 he was nominated provincial lector.

A born poet and self-taught scholar, Vella started writing in Maltese in 1941 and he had several poems published in periodicals. He also wrote Fra Diegu - Missier il-Fqajrin (1952), Erwieħ Kbar ta’ Żminijietna (1954), Il-Madonna tas-Sokkors Perpetwu (1955), Bjuda Serafika (1955), Maggy - Teacher Belġjana (1957), Ġrajja ta’ Omm (1958), and Nar li Jqaddes (1960). He has five volumes of poems: Ġiżimin Aħmar (1958), Dgħajjes tal-Karti (1969), Ħitan tas-Sejjieħ (1975) which won him the Rothmans Prize for Poetry in 1975,  Ġarġir mal-Ħerża (1979) which was awarded the Ministry of Education Literary Prize in 1980, Qoffa Riħ (1985), and Demm fuq il-Verna (1989, posthumously). A selection of his poetry is included in various collective anthologies. Vella also wrote a number of biographies and two oratorios: Madonna tas-Sacro Cuor (1986) and Demm fuq il-Verna (1987).

Vella’s poetry is full of Christian values as he sees God’s presence in simple everyday incidents and as he interprets life’s tribulations religiously. It is a poetry that wanders in a human forest seeking the presence of God everywhere. The outpourings of Vella’s heart and mind tend to make his poetry rather personal, but they show a keen desire to share an inner self and to build an intimate relationship that moves towards spirituality. Vella’s poetry invites the intelligent reader to meditate on his life and to find hope in the midst of a difficult environment.

This biography is part of the collection created by Michael Schiavone over a 30-year period. Read more about Schiavone and his initiative here.