Two sections from my fifth book It Reeks of Radio , along with their translations into Greek by Despina Pirketti, are featured in the latest issue of the illustrious UK-based magazine Modern Poetry in Translation . The issue, released late November 2025, bears the title 'The Antidote to Agony: Focus on the Poetry of Greece and Cyprus.' Modern Poetry in Translation was founded in 1965 by Ted Hughes and Daniel Weissbort, and for 60 years it has been publishing "the best new poetry, essays and reviews from around the world." In truth I was somewhat surprised to be invited by guest issue editor, Jessica Sequeira , to feature, as the focus is on translations into English of poetry written in Greek. However, in the issue announcement Jessica writes the following: "Greek poetry, as perhaps all poetry, opens the heart to the beyond, to the liminal condition. The truth is that the idea of a national focus will forever be complicated given that migrants also form part of...
What has been overlooked in the "controversy" over Kevin Kiely's review of Michael D Higgins' New and Selected Poems , published in the February 2012 issue of Books Ireland , is that in the same batch of reviews Kiely also responds rather dismissively to Maurice Scully's most recent volume A Tour of the Lattice (Veer Books, 2011). I have no issue with anybody reading any text in any way that they wish - and whether they find it wonderful or objectionable I'll defend their right to write or speak about it without fear or prejudice. It seems important, though, to point out that there have been no dissenting voices over the way Kiely has trashed Scully's latest book in the way that poets , broadcasters and official bodies have rallied to the poetic defence of (president) Higgins. I have heard Maurice Scully being described as Dublin's, if not Ireland's, best living poet - and done so in no sycophantic or PR terms. It's a rather simplistic sta...
Cadences is a journal of literature and the arts published annually by the Department of Humanities at the European University of Cyprus. From the editorial statement: "Writers in Cyprus think, feel and express themselves in several languages, Greek, Turkish and English being three of the most prominent. Cadences is a bridge between them, a meeting point at which writers of the diverse communities of the island may find each other, and learn from their encounters with difference." Volume 5, published last month, is largely dedicated to the work of Yiannis Ritsos, the year 2009 being the centenary of his birth. It features some of his original poems in Greek along with translations in Turkish; responses to his poems by contemporary Cypriot writers, in English and in Greek; and the winning poems from an islandwide schools competition dedicated to Ritsos. But the issue also features original work. Included in it is my poem 'Nicosia Journal', which is a sequence in n...
Comments