Cassar, Manuel (3.1.1933-)Poet, novelist and playwrightBorn in Msida, Cassar studied at the Lyceum and St Michael's Training College and was subsequently employed as teacher at the government school in Msida. Cassar emigrated to Australia in 1955 and was employed first as a teacher before joining the federal civil service. Cassar has always been very active in Maltese literature and started the Ghaqda tal-Letteratura tal-Maltin fl-Awstralja in 1959. He is also a member of the Akkademja tal-Malti. He has written and published a large number of poems in Maltese. Cassar was sub-editor of the journal Malta in Melbourne, member of The Australian Poetry Lovers Society, and co-editor of anthologies of poetry by Maltese-Australian authors. He has also written several articles about Maltese-Australian literature in Malta and Australia-based papers. Cassar, who writes in English and Maltese, has translated Edgar Wallace's The Four Just Men as L-Erbgha tal-Haqq which was published in Il-Berqa (September-October 1952). Many of his poems may be found in Driegh ma' Driegh (1971) and in Irjieh (1987). Cassar also studied painting at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology where he obtained a Diploma in Fine Art (1984) and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree (1985). He has exhibited his paintings at various exhibitions. Cassar has also been very much involved in dramatic society activity and was member of the Council of the Malta Star of the Sea Dramatic Company and of the Maltese Performing Arts Association. Cassar is married to Josephine Spiteri and they have five children. Source: Maltese Biographies of the Twentieth Century (1997), editors Michael J. Schiavone and Louis J. Scerri
  
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