| F’Altamira is a collection of what the author has styled as poeproża, which is really an amalgam of prosepoem, cut-out poetry and polyphonic prose. The genres are new to Maltese literature and once more show Fenech for the restless innovator he is. The innovation extends to the style of the book, which has a silk screen cover and eight illustrations by Luciano Micallef, a dramatic and exciting artist with whom Fenech had worked before on the basis of artist-poet dialogue. |
Publisher’s Press Release
The Sunday Times, 4.3.1979
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| The literary evolution of VF can be taken in fact as paragon of all the above-mentioned tensions, and accurately mirrors the sundering from traditional patterns, as well as its unfettered expression and liberating course…His style has always been marked by a simple directness and such frankness that enlivens with spontaneity his lyrical tone and range…Among our younger poets, VF happens to be one of the most socially committed, a trend that in the present collection has now become well-nigh dominant. |
Anon
“Indignation of a Just Conscience”
The Democrat, 31.3.1979
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| This [the political dimension] finds expression basically as a form of rebellion against bureaucracy, conformism, and against all forms of encroachment on individual freedom. It also finds expression in a peculiar love-frustration relationship the poet feels with his country. Closely correlated with these feelings is that particular projection of alienation which is peculiar to much of the poet’s work in general, and which is the fruit at one level of his same social rebellion and at the other of his own personality. |
Kenneth Wain
“The Nightmare in Victor Fenech’s ‘Altamira’”
The Times, 9.4.1979
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| Wieħed jista’ jbassar li l-kelma ‘poeproża’ tibqa’ tintuża fil-vokabularju Malti billi kittieba oħra, wara Fenech, jagħmlu użu minn din il-forma ta’ kitba. Imma ta’ min jgħid li l-kuraġġ ta’ VF huwa doppju; l-ewwel jidher fl-għażla ta’ forma ġdida, u t-tieni għas-sinċerità u n-nuqqas ta’ biża’ li huwa juri fl-istqarrija tal-kredu tiegħu. |
Norbert Ellul Vincenti
“Profeta qalbieni jgħajjat fid-deżert”
Il-Mument, 22.4.1979
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| Il-letteratura li nsibu f’dan il-ktieb hija bħal ‘pont’ bejn il-proża u l-poeżija. Fenech għandu tendenza kbira li jkun jikteb il-poeżija u minnha joħroġ ħsibijiet aktarx prożajċi. Minn din il-kapaċità letterarja Fenech silet dan l-esperiment li nsibu f’Altamira. L-ideat huma qawwija, it-tematika hija deċiża, u l-istil huwa wieħed interessanti u movimentat… L-aċċent ta’ Fenech huwa strettament poetiku, imma l-filosofija hija x’aktarx prożajka għax ġejja minn ispirazzjoni li l-awtur jikseb mir-realtà. |
Doreen Mikallef
“L-Impenn Soċjali ta’ Victor Fenech”
l-orizzont, 23.4.1979
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| Bħal kull ħaġa oħra f’din il-ġabra ta’ kitba ta’ Fenech, xejn mhu sempliċi jew faċli. Il-verità – jekk teżisti – trid tingħasar minn bejn snien l-antitesi…l-aktar kitba li laqtitni kienet “Erġajt fl-Għar” [li] tinseġ nisġa meraviljuża ta’ ħjut arketipali u tgħaqqad stampa kumplessa ta’ biżgħat imwielda fil-memorja kollettiva tas-subkonxju. |
Norbert Ellul Vincenti
it-Torca, 29.4.1979
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| Gulf, the newest of our publishing houses, have done very well in bringing out this handsome volume of prose/poetry by VF, still the youngest in heart of the 1960s New Wave poets. Fenech’s enthusiasm for typography and book design are evident in this book with its fine silk-screen cover and plates by Luciano Micallef. The illustrations, in a rich monochrome, echo the high seriousness of Fenech’s work but not the hysteria that sometimes lurks behind the words and the sense of helplessness so often expressed by the pieces…In “Odissea” he makes a plea for resistance to the encroachments of an over-powerful State [and] in “F’Ħaġar Qim” the prayer of the worshippers in Copper Age Malta is really a prayer for the Malta of today…Only this, he seems to be saying, can prevent the dark vision of “Badge” and “Ribell” from coming true. |
Paul Xuereb
“The Gods of the State”
The Sunday Times, 27.5.1979
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| There is a restlessness in VF which at first glance seems a misfortune…always on the move, going on from initiative to initiative, as restlessly busy as the proverbial bee. The result of this restlessness has been manifold. He pioneered shared anthologies in the Sixties; brought quality and standing to the voice of the new angry poets of that decade (il-polz); spawned the first local photo-magazine (Peprin); helped and encouraged numerous newcomers. And now he is back on the literary scene not simply with a new book, but with – for Malta – a new genre. F’Altamira is a path-breaker in three regards…”Ribell”, a magnificent protest against the oppression of the individual by the system, says in style and chiselled content all that Victor wants to say…In this particular vein [“Il-Lejl tal-Ħelikopter”] Fenech tends to demonstrate a certain paranoia. He is telling a black parable in the mould (but not the style) of Orwell’s 1984. Paranoid or not, he is giving a warning against a type of system which, though few I imagine, would like to see established, must continually be safeguarded against. |
Lino Spiteri
“Strident Warnings from Altamira”
Daily News, 15.6.1979
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| Fenech, wieħed mir-ribelli tas-Sittinijiet, għadu ma tilef xejn mir-rabja tiegħu lejn soċjetà mitlufa tegħreq fil-ħama tal-ipokrisija u l-inġustizzja. Dan jagħmlu permezz tal-poeproża, xejra ta’ kitba li bdiha fil-Malti l-istess VF u li tidher intlaqgħet tajjeb minn dawk li kontinwament ifittxu ideat u tqanqiliet ġodda x’jixtarru. |
Charles Flores
“Ironija f’Altamira”
l-orizzont, 30.7.1979 |
Studji Kritiċi:
Oliver Friggieri: “Mid-Djalettika Poeżija-Proża għas-Sintesi tal-Poeproża”, L-Istudji Kritiċi Miġbura Vol.I, Malta University Services, 1995, 396-419.
Dwardu Fenech: Għas-Sejħa tal-Għana (Studji Kritiċi ta’ Poeti tas-Seklu XX), A.C.Aquilina & Co., 1980, 84-109.
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