Modern Greek Poetry anybody?

[Eltheza]

Hi! Is anybody interested in Modern Greek Poetry e.g. Cavafy, Elitis, Ritsos...? I lived in Greece for twenty years and GreeK Language and Literature was my all-consuming hobby. I'd be interested to hear from anyone who has read and liked these poets or any others:p

[wlz]

I bought a large Anthology of Modern Greek Poetry towards the end of last year. My reading nor ideas on it certainly doesn't stretch the length of twenty years but I am more than willing to discuss what I've experienced so far... just as long as the discussion doesn't became a literary version of the X Factor which appears to be happening elsewhere, lol. Care to share anymore of your experiences of the Greek?

[Paulclem]

Are you talking about the thread on voting on what poet to study? We're just trying to get some more serious study of named poets together, which hasn't been happening recently.

Literary x-factor? :ciappa:

[wlz]

hmmm, hahahahahahahahahahaha

[wlz]

No I wasn't aware there was actually a literary X Factor going on, hahahaha... hahahaha...
Who's playing Simon Cowel's role? hahahaha....

f**k me!

I was wondering why some of the poetry threads were left hanging in mid-air....:beatdeadhorse5:

[wlz]

Must one wear shoes when posting, lol. hahahahaha!


***


Anyway, back to MODERN GREEK POETS:

[Eltheza]

Hi! I'm new - you'll have to fill me in on the background:goof:

I especially like Cavafy. Here's The City:

http://www.cavafy.com/poems/content.asp?id=58&cat=1

Which poets are in your anthology?:p

[Jozanny]

Eltheza, I regret I did not check this thread earlier, as I just purchased the best English translation of Cavafy available in the US, that I know of, and would be all too happy if I could interact with a Greek native or whatnot, in exploring his verse.

I will cave in, and yank the collection out, and have it join my other fifty bookmarks.

Modern life! :rolleyes:

[Eltheza]

Hi Jozanny - nice to hear from you! I have an Oxford University Press edition of Cavafy, with parallel Greek text, translation by Evangelos Sachperoglou, 2007. I have other editions just in Greek. I'm afraid I'm not a native, but I lived in Greece for a long time and speak the lingo fairly fluently.

Where would you like to start?:seeya::seeya:

[Jozanny]

Perhaps later next week. I tried to study modern Greek years ago and may still have an exercise book around.

Would be interested, as well, in learning something of the other poets you listed.

[Eltheza]

Hi Jozanny! Anytime:smile5:! You might like Yiannis Ritsos too, though I haven't got an edition at the moment. If you're interested in the language, Amazon is a good place to go for Modern Greek course books, grammars etc.:seeya:

[Jozanny]

Eltheza: My mind seems to believe that I can still be an energetic 35 year old with cerebral palsy instead of a 47 year old whose body is now vigorously under protest...

I am really interested in a closer examination of modern Greek poets, else I would not have posted my support of your topic, but my body is telling me that I had better get on to the task of asking my most beloved university if they will steward my published work...I am, in other words, swamped--but I will try to find some down time soon to dialogue with you on this, as I value what your knowledge can teach me :)

Patience of my ligaments required!

[quasimodo1]

WORDS AGAIN
Words in their thousands pour out of dictionaries
as soon as you open them
like ants, black, red, white,
when you step on an ant-hill.
How can you find, how can you choose
amid the conflation of words
the only one that fits,
how can you escape from the others
that stick to your body in swarms
struggling to survive. ... {excerpt}