Anthologist: Lefteris Papaleontiou
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Andreas Antoniou, Panos Giannakou, Christos Genakritis, Senem Gökel, Maria Thoma, Emre İleri, Halil Karapaşaoğlu, Avgi Lilli, Giorgos Onisiforou, Eftychia Panagiotou, Konstantinos Papageorgiou, Maria Papastefanou, Myrto Papachristoforou, Labros Polyviou, Andreas Polycarpou, Maria Siakalli, Antonini Smyrilli, Angelos Sofokleous, Iasonas Stavrakis, Tuğçe Tekhanlı, Andreas Timotheou
The poems of Turkish-Cypriot poets was translated by: Anthi Karra, Mehmet Yikik, Lale Alatli, Gurgenc Korkmazel, Lefteris Papaleontiou, Maria Siakalli
Find the book here
Young Cypriot poets in the early years of the 21st century
Twenty-one young Cypriot poets (seventeen Greek Cypriots and four Turkish Cypriots) are brought under the same roof in this Anthology. Nine of them are women and twelve are men, all born between 1980 and 1994, who started publishing their poems within the first two decades of the 21st century. Perhaps it is still early to talk about a new generation of poets, with such telltale characteristics or other cohesive elements justifying the term “generation”. Moreover, it is not yet time to definitely assess the quality levels of their work, and it would also be too risky to foretell their future development. However, we could argue that the poets featured in these pages have all managed to make a name for themselves as aspiring and self-confident artists in the genre of poetry; it is likely that they have already set their foot at the “first step” of the ladder of Poetry (to quote an expression by C.P. Cavafy). Those among them who have published a second or even third poetry book have demonstrably taken firm steps forward and surpassed their early texts. The big challenge, of course, is whether they will be able to compete with both themselves and the genre of poetry when they will be older, more mature and ready to tackle the rich legacy of poetic tradition and develop a more personal and crystallized poetic language.
Nevertheless, by reading and compiling poems written by young people aged from 24 to 38 years, it is more than evident that they are capable of grabbing the reader’s interest and attention. Some of these young poets even dare to wrestle poetic tradition and converse creatively or defiantly with famous Greek and foreign poets (Rimbaud and Baudelaire, Cavafy, Seferis, as well as Kavvadias), trying to utter something new or examine things under a different light.
These youthful poems show poets who are already well-qualified (all of them are higher education graduates of Cypriot, Greek or other foreign universities, while several of them continue with their postgraduate or doctoral studies) and ready (or almost ready) to apply their poet’s stylus to take on the small and great topics of literature and life: Love and death, time and the philosophical questions about human existence, the intersection of the personal and the collective, the local and the universal, as well as poetological issues and mythical archetypes, the drama of present-day refugees, or, more seldom, the political problem of Cyprus.
As a whole, these young poets avoid becoming involved with politics, especially with the political problem of Cyprus, despite the fact that it remains an open and festering wound. Political poetry and politics in their more specific sense are no longer a priority for young poets (see, for example, the poem “Ekloges” (Elections) by Panos Giannakos). Naturally, a few of these young poets discuss the drawn and quartered island of Cyprus and its problems, although they address this issue from a very particular perspective. For example, Senem Gökel [see “Tou Nisiou Ta Pigadia” (The islands’ wells) and “Volta Sta Venetika Teichi” (A Walk in the Venetian Walls)] makes various allusions to the “island’s curse” and the notorious “wells of history” (see also the poem by Christos Chatzipapas on the same subject) where dead bodies of Greek and Turkish Cypriots were thrown into during times of conflict. Halil Karapaşaoğlu comments on this lingering drama in his own special way: “In this island, the greatest betrayal binds itself to our language / each invasion thus turns into a thing of honor” [“Ta Ichni Tou Taxidiou” (The Traces of the Journey)]. In the same spirit, Andreas Timotheou acknowledges the existence of the Others, our Turkish Cypriot compatriots, with their own refugees and poets, in the same way that “We, too, exist for them / as the other side” [“I Alli Plevra” (The Other Side)]. Naturally, other poets also refer to Cyprus in poems that aren’t part of this Anthology.
Outward-looking views of problems and situations of the historical present are also not absent from their poetic themes. To give an example, Iasonas Stavrakis uses a mournful scenery to describe the dire situation of Greece over the recent years, through the reactions of famous deceased authors [“I Ellada Mou” (My Greece)]. The theme of present-day immigrants is indirectly referenced in the poem “Chelidonia” (Swallows) by Constantinos Papageorgiou, which also serves as a statement of acceptance of diversity. The poem “To Koritsi Apo Ti Sri-Lanka” (The Girl from Sri-Lanka) examines a similar theme by focusing on the relationship developed between an elderly woman and her young maid. Likewise, Panos Giannakou criticizes, with humorous and lighthearted tones, the decline of institutions and particularly the commercialization of religion and the Church [“Deftera Parousia” (The Second Coming)].
Myth and history are used in two main instances in order to shed light and reflect on situations from present-day history, through characters and incidents of the Ancient Greek past. Myrto Papachristoforou invokes names and motifs from the Trojan Cycle and the myths of Adrastus or Onesilus, in order to hint at things from the (Cypriot) historical present [“Enas Theos Menetai Enantion Mas” (A God Rages Against Us), “Adrastos” (Adrastus), “Mesaoria B”]. Andreas Polycarpou also resorts to famous characters and themes from Ancient Greek mythology (Teiresias, Odysseus, Ithaca, the Argonauts, the Harpies, Alcibiades, Demosthenes, etc.) to allude to present-day situations [“Oi Chrismoi Tou Teiresia” (The Oracles of Teiresias), “I Ptosi Tis Dimokratias” (The Fall of Democracy)].
Nonetheless, most poets in this Anthology show a preference for themes of a more personal nature, such as love, death, time and human existence in general – which, ultimately, go beyond the mere personal. It is likely that poets often start from a personal disappointment, yet they achieve, in the best of situations, to impart universal character to personal feelings, enabling them to touch the other, the universal Man, with the power of poetry.
Poets invent various ways and means of expression to speak about the power of the blind alleys of love, the demands and uprisings of the love-stricken body and the betrayal and absence of love. The romantic emotion becomes an existential experience that leaves deep marks on the soul and body and lays claims for its rights and freedom: “Love slaughters / our flesh and sad skulls / it seals pretty little eyes / with fury / and discharges in the sky / the world’s voiceless melancholia” [Giorgos Onisiforou, “Lyrikon” (Lyrical Poem)].
The bittersweet taste, denial and absence of love, the emotional tensions with their highs and lows and the altogether disturbed interpersonal relationships that show how strong romantic couples actually are, all find their way back as main themes in a large number of poems in this anthology (for example, poems by Andreas Antoniou, Christos Genakritis, Halik Karapaşaoğlu, Eftychia Panagiotou, Maria Papastefanou, Labros Polyvios, Maria Siakalli and others). In several poems by women poets in particular, the romantic emotion becomes physical so it can be more intensely reflected on the female body, thus highlight the characteristics and particularities of its gender (see “To Oneiro Tis Apozimiosis” (The Dream of Compensation) by Senem Gökel and “Prosfiga Agie” (Saint Refugee) by Maria Thoma).
The concept of time, in conjunction with existential concerns and the feeling of awe before death, also constitute recurrent themes in a number of poems. The time of human life is contrasted with the “most fragile of branches”, “the most sickly” and “lewdest child” (“Juliette” by Maria Thoma). Time becomes insufferable when the poetic hero is denied love and feels confined within a body-prison (“O Pio Aforitos Chronos” (The Most Insufferable Time”) by Christos Genakritis). In another case, time takes the likeness of a stray dog, running behind us to remind us that “in each instance we are born and we perish / yet one more time” (“Skyli” (The Dog) by Avgi Lilli).
Death is treated as an inseparable part of life that is inborn with human existence: “We bring it with us at the time / of our birth” (“Aftos Pou Fernoume Mazi Mas” (The One We Bring With Us) by Avgi Lilli). Faced with life and death, “resting in a fetal position”, Man shows “a common mask: That of the defenseless” (“To Prosopeio” (The Mask) by Labros Polyviou). The poem “Liantineios Thanatos” (A Liantinean Death) by Angelos Sofokleous is premised on the views and the final act of philosopher and author Dimitris Liantinis: The poetic hero seeks to transcend and negate the idea of death, believing that he will leave behind the mortal world for another, finer world. In “Epithanateia Niki” (Terminal Victory), too, Angelos Sofokleous presents a different version of the theme of suicide that goes far beyond the Christian belief on the subject. Andreas Polycarpou, on the other hand, composes a “Hymn to Death” (Hymnos Ston Thanato), giving Death human characteristics, glamorizing and sanctifying it in order to either define and banish its dark figure, or come to terms with the idea of the inescapable ending of life: “Immaculate, unsullied, all-holly / Oh praiseworthy Death”.
The poetological texts – poems whose subject is poetry itself – are another interesting aspect, allowing us access to the poetry laboratory of creators and observe their thoughts about poetic creation and their own personal craft as individual artists. Panos Giannakou “toys” humorously with the words “parthenogenesis” and “genesis” to imply the view that although nothing is born out of nothing in the field of art, a genesis does occur and something new is created, even if it emerges out of and relies on the palimpsest corpus of literary tradition (“Parthenogenesis” by Panos Giannakou). In yet another spirited poem titled “The Pen” (To Stelo), Panos Giannakou suggests the vanity, or better yet, the incompleteness of the art of poetry. Christos Genakritis interacts with the theme of Cavafy’s “Ithaca” in a rather bold manner: He asks himself whether the long road to Ithaca (or, for that matter, towards any ideal destination) is any good if this course isn’t complemented by romantic and pleasurable moments [“Poiitiki Dierotisi” (“A Poetic Question”)].
A recurrent belief in several texts is that the path towards poetry is harsh, almost gory, and comparable to the act of giving birth. The pregnancy of a poem is shown to be equally as painful as childbirth: “Words slip / limbs bleed / the body sucks the poem in” (“Koufari” (Carcass) by Avgi Lilli). The image of the unborn poem whose birth is drawing near is also found in the poem “Gennisi” (Birth) by Emre İleri. In this instance, however, the roles are reversed: The poet is pregnant with the mother and seeks to give (re)birth to her through his poem, in order to reshape her figure through poetic verse. The image of the poet pregnant with a new poem returns in “Atitlo” (Untitled) by Konstantinos Papageorgiou, but this time it fails to bring the desired result: “Instead of waters breaking / water rushes in from everywhere”. He also blames poetry for the suicides of Ann Sexton, Sylvia Plath and Virginia Woolf, insinuating that the poetic process is extremely painful and leads to the (actual or metaphorical) death of its creators [“Aftocheires Poiitries” (Suicide Women Poets)]. In another poem, K. Papageorgiou’s hero poet disobeys divine orders, like Lot, and explodes like a “supernova”, losing his voice – yet maintaining the gift and weapon of writing [“To Ksekinima” (The Beginning)]. Elsewhere, he criticizes poets (himself included) who insist on talking but fail to take action: “Other than devising / do you act? Or are you content with just writing?” [“Poitiki” (Poetics)].
The “Grand Gardener” of Efthychia Panagiotou is a poet, who sows words and beats them mercilessly to bring forth a poem born through a bloodied process akin to dying: “He sows death / he seeds me with death / I become death”. She sees poetry as a dangerous game of putting scattered words in order, for the purpose of restoring the lost unity of the poet’s broken down body [“Oi Lexeis Tis Einai Osta” (Her Words Are Bones)]. The poetic process is also given physical qualities in the poem titled “The Words” (Oi Lexeis) by Andreas Timotheou. Words are treated as parts of the human body and the overall human existence that are either named specifically or are hushed up [“Oi Lexeis” (The Words)].
Another poem links poetry to decay, equating it to a “worn-out chair / refusing to be patched / because it loves decay” [“Gia Petama” (To Be Thrown Away) by Antonini Smyrilli). The grueling process of creating poetry is summarized in the few verses of Iasonas Stavrakis’s “Chapel” (Xoklese): “The poet’s chapel / is build / on the precipice / of language…” Stavrakis cites his poetic credo through the portraits of Baudelaire and Rimbaud, two heretic, “damned” poets. On the one hand, he uses delirious and nightmarish imagery to praise the “noncompliant prophet” who gained immortality through Les Fleurs du Mal; on the other hand, he juxtaposes the “callow poems” of the young rebel from the provinces to the “cerements of art”, which capital cities have in abundance.
In several poems (mainly by Antonini Smyrilli and Emre İleri, also by Maria Siakalli), childhood serves as sanctuary and counterweight to negative everyday circumstances. Innocent childhood years become a measure for comparing the hopeless personal life of an adult [“Stin Paidikotita Mou” (To My Childhood) by Emre İleri]. Antonini Smyrilli states that childhood is the “most authentic” trait of her personality” [“Kounia Bella” (Swing, pretty girl)] – in fact, she pampers and maintains this characteristic as a thing of great value: “I lick / the child / asleep in me / just like a cat / licks the kitten’s skin” [“[Atitlo]” (Untitled)]. Maria Siakalli, too, prefers to see things from a child’s viewpoint in order to deal with and transform bleak and unpleasant aspects of everyday life (“[2]”).
Several animal-loving poems written by Antonini Smyrilli and Andreas Timotheos are also interesting. In both cases, prominence is given to cats, who are not only regarded as an inseparable part of Man’s life, they also acquire human qualities, even absorb aspects of their human housemate’s personality [“Ego Kai I Gata Mou” (Me And My Cat) by Antonini Smyrilli], or appear to accompany the dead to their final resting place after they have passed away [“Odigies Koimitiriou” (Cemetery Instructions) by Andreas Timotheou].
It is not easy to search for and codify common elements of style in the poets included in this Anthology, taking into consideration that theirs is a poetic language that is either in development or at the early stages of its formation. We could say that the poems in this book seem to be more diverse than unified in their writing, or even that they demonstrate many different ways of searching for style instead of indicating a crystallized form of expression. In some places, we see a plain, unembellished and straightforward expression (Panos Giannakou, Emre Ileri, Labros Polyviou, Maria Siakalli, Antonini Smyrilli – also, to some extent, Giorgos Onisiforou and Iasonas Stavrakis); in other places, the writing style becomes more representational and clear in its meanings, albeit without omitting to attempt a more personal style of expression or deal with philosophical or other matters (Andreas Georgiou, Christos Genakritis, Konstantinos Papageorgiou, Maria Papastefanou, Myrto Papachristoforou, Angelos Sofokleous, Andreas Timotheou). At times, the poetic language becomes rather strange, labyrinthine and “difficult”, with surreal imagery and expressiveness that tear down or eliminate the logical sequence of meanings (mostly in poems by Eftychia Panagiotou, Tuğçe Tekhanli and Maria Thoma, also in Senem Gökel, Halil Karapaşaoğlu, Avgi Lilli, Andreas Polycarpou and in earlier texts by Iasonas Stavrakis).
Some poems (mainly by Panos Giannakou, but also in poems by Andreas Antoniou, Senem Gökel, Maria Thoma, Emre İleri, Avgi Liili, Konstantinos Papageorgiou, Iasonas Stavrakis and others) use elements of lighthearted, spicy or redeeming humor, even employing irony, satire or (self)sarcasm at some points. It is also noteworthy that some poets (mainly Andreas Antoniou, but also Christos Genakritis and Giorgos Onisiforou) resort to the traditional verse or utilize elements of prosody, marrying them with free verse – perhaps following the example of several poets from the Greek ‘70’s generation or from the later years (e.g. Nasos Vagenas, Dionysis Kapsalis, Giorgos Koropoulis, Dimitris Kosmopoulos, Elias Lagiou etc.), or the example of several contemporary poets from Cyprus, such as Babis Anagiotou or the untimely deceased Christofors Theodorou. Andreas Antoniou, in particular, systematically uses prosody to skillfully craft metrical verses in longer poems.
A rough comparison between the poems in this anthology and the poetic production of previous Cypriot poets (say, from the ‘60’s generation or the generation of ’74) is likely to lead to a few initial and non-definitive remarks, such as: a) The themes centered on Cyprus that have monopolized the poems of the generation of 1974, to give an example, or even those of older poets, have either subsided significantly in the poems of the younger poetic generation, or are completely absent from them, b) despite the fact that younger poets continue to draw inspiration and incentives from the contemporary historical context, they are mainly interested in more personal matters from the private areas of life, such as the internal man, with his concerns, mood swings and dead ends – despite the fact that these subjects cross into the area of the collective being, as preoccupations of the universal Man, c) the poetic language they use is different than the expanded, high-toned, sophisticated and emotional or angry language of past poets (from the era of Vasilis Michailidis to the Generations of the 1960’s and 1974); younger poets tend to prefer simpler and unsophisticated form of expression, which is not without its modernist experimentations or backgrounds in Surrealism. Previous poets (for example, Stefanos Stavridis), who made their appearance towards the end of the 20th century, had already done much to prepare the path towards this direction.
Nevertheless, a large number of poems in this Anthology cannot be classified according to the above schemas, which indicates that the poetic language used by young poets is both diverse and searching for its own unique expression. Let us not forget that we are dealing with poetry in development, which seeks to gain a foothold in and draw inspiration from the rich poetic tradition (both Greek and international) to express the instability and fragmentation of our post-modern age, in the manner in which they are reflected in their inner world. A poet’s ultimate goal is to use the art of writing to transcend both the demands of the age and his or her inner dilemmas.
Lefteris Papaleontiou