Anthology: Nestoras Poulakos
Translation and preface: Maria Katsopoulou
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Janette Ayachi, Heather H. Yeung, Niall Campbell, Angela Cleland, Marion McCready, Penny Boxall, Miriam Nash, Stewart Sanderson, Nadine Aisha Jassat, Russell Jones
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I took on this translation with grate emotion. After my two-year stay in Edinburgh, my return to Greece was accompanied by a strong nostalgia for the Scottish accent, the pubs and streets of the Scottish capital and Glasgow by night, the train stations and the enchanting nature landscapes.
They were all revived through this poetic anthology, which consists of poems by contemporary award-winning Scottish poetesses and poets and that aptly captures both the realistic side of Scotland and a more allegorical expression of feelings and senses.
Certainly Scottish contemporary poetry is very different from that of the classical poets we have met. The writings of Robert Burns and Sir Walter Scott are still traditionally honored and celebrated, but this does not mean that the leave no room for the emergence of young poets and poetesses.
Important is the presence of second-generation immigrant voices, which are an integral part of the Scottish literary community: something that makes the Scottish people even more proud is the warmth with which they embrace humanity in a spirit of solidarity and brotherhood.
I happily completed this work here with an imaginary journey to my old neighborhood, right next to the Scottish Poetry Library, where I lived the most exciting and full with adversities period of my life so far. I wish a good wandering in the alleys and landscapes of these poems.
Maria Katsopoulou
Athens, May 2020