Patras World Poetry Festival

DECEMBER 10th - 13th 2020

We would like to inform you that due to the implementation of a new lockdown in our country and the increase in the number of coronavirus cases, the organizing and scientific committee of the “Jean Moréas International Awards” and the Patras International Poetry Festival postpones the date of the event on December, 10-13 of 2020.

Digital Event

The Patras World Poetry Festival 2020 this year is entitled "National Poets" and plans to host 60 poets from 15 different countries around the world.

This year the festival be held online and virtually, as far as COVID-19 impact affects significantly the implementation of this event.

In the four-day online event there will be 6 meetings lasting up to 3 hours, where the guest poets will be presented with readings in 2 languages, via live connection. The events will be attended by invited representatives of institutions and the jury, while the program will include speeches, presentations, tributes, music, etc.

In addition, the following activities will take place within the schedule of the Festival events:

online Award of the annual Greek Poetry Awards "Jean Moréas" (Saturday December 12th)
Art Exhibition "National Poets" with the participation of 20 Greek artists and 10 artists from different countries (live and digital tour)
Collectible trilingual edition of the poems of the participants, in the first language of each artist, in Greek and English

The 3rd Patras World Poetry Festival 2020 is organized by the Poetry Fountation “Grafeion Poiiseos”, the literary website Culture Book (culturebook.gr) and the multicultural center Epikentro Plus History & Arts, while every year it is under the auspices of the Ministries of Culture and the Ministry of Tourism*. Supporters of the event are the Greek Library of London, the Cultural Center “Kostis Palamas”, the University of Western Macedonia, the Hellenic Open University and many other important institutions, as claimed under the Aegis of the President of the Hellenic Republic.

Awarding of Poetry Awards "Jean Moréas" for the year 2019

This annual event will be held digitally at one session of the PWPF Poetry Event 2020, with a presentation of the award-winning poets and recitations by them. This is the annual event during which the "Jean Moréas" Prizes are awarded for Greek poetic art and Greek poetic production in its entire range. They are recognizable nationwide and concern the poetry collections that were published throughout the previous calendar year from the year of the award. They refer both to young poets and newcomers and to those who are recognized with their poetic work along time.

The event is highly appreciated by the Greek literary and artistic circle of readers. In this year's event, in addition to the institutionalized awards, a very important foreign poet will be honored, who with his/her lifelong work honors the literature outside Greece.The Award Committee is composed of Greek University professors, as well as very important poets and poetry critics who will evaluate the work of the honorees.

Sincerely,

On behalf of the organizing committee.

Kotopoulos H. Triantafyllos, President of the “Patras World Poetry Festival”

Skiathas D. Antonis, President of the Poetry Fountation “Grafeion Poiiseos”

Alaniadi Maria, Event Manager of the “Patras World Poetry Festival”

Charis Melitas, Greece

Patras World Poetry Festival PWPF 2020

Τετάρτη, 04 Νοεμβρίου 2020

0 Σχόλια

Charis Melitas, GREECE

Black is black

The Cell

The Poems

BLACK IS BLACK

No.
I won't yield to expired word games
in the suspended skies
of fireworks.
I will not wear the poets' uniform
to shed some light into your black bridal gown.
You are the cruel, dismal darkness.
Insatiable,
Solid.
Indelible.
You drown the colors
kill the birds
a thousand mourning garments on your body.
Knights never had a chance with you.
What sword will slash the shadows?
What poem will never shatter you?
And yet, your darkness spews out lava.
It isn't lava
it's ashes from a bygone age
spread out on the edges of the wound
thunderstruck.

No.
I won't not stir the glow of yesterday
I will not pillage syllables to illuminate you.
But with a knife sharpened on my soul
I will slice your darkness into pieces.
So, I can taste you
and shed black tears.

BLACK IS BLACK

Όχι.
Δεν θα λυγίσω σε ληγμένα λογοπαίγνια
στους κρεμασμένους ουρανούς
των πυροτεχνημάτων.
Δεν θα φορέσω τις στολές των ποιητών
να ρίξω φως στο μαύρο νυφικό σου.
Είσαι το σκυθρωπό, σκληρό, σκοτάδι.
Αχόρταγο.
Ατόφιο.
Ανεξίτηλο.
Πνίγεις τα χρώματα
σκοτώνεις τα πουλιά
χιλιάδες κρέπια τυλιγμένα στο κορμί σου.
Δεν έχουν οι ιππότες πιθανότητες.
Ποιο ξίφος θα ξεσκίσει τις σκιές;
Ποιο ποίημα μπορεί να σε διαλύσει;
Κι όμως, ξερνάει λάβα το σκοτάδι σου.
Δεν είναι λάβα
είναι τέφρα αλλοτινή
διάσπαρτη στις όχθες της πληγής
κοκαλωμένη.

Όχι.
Δεν θα σκαλίσω τις ανταύγειες του χθες
δεν θα συλήσω συλλαβές να σε φωταγωγήσω.
Μ' ένα μαχαίρι τροχισμένο στην ψυχή
θα κόψω το σκοτάδι σου κομμάτια.
Να σε γευτώ
να χύσω μαύρο δάκρυ.

* * *

THE CELL

I will be open with you.
Till a couple of days ago
I had no complaint to make about my cell.
It is a bit to dark, I know
the skylight gets misty high up there
the full moon appears shattered through the grate
and I haven't seen a bird for years.
Who cares about such details
beside the accessories it provides me?
Microphones, telephones; buttons
smart calculators, flat screens.
There's nothing I can't see from here.
Executions, tortures, fires
stabbings, even red stains.
Blood swamps the cell
there are moments I feel it's mine.

I will be open with you.
Till a couple of days ago
I had no complaint to make about my cell.
I thought I could be an active citizen
fall in love, live, get educated
and be conveniently waiting for my turn.
Until all of a sudden last night
I made a discovery.
My cell door wasn' t locked.

ΤΟ ΚΕΛΙ

Θα σας μιλήσω ανοιχτά
Μέχρι προχθές
παράπονο δεν είχα στο κελί μου.
Εντάξει, είναι λίγο σκοτεινό
θαμπώνει ο φεγγίτης εκεί πάνω
οι βέργες κομματιάζουν την πανσέληνο
κι ένα πουλί δεν φάνηκε στα χρόνια.
Μα ποιος μετράει τέτοιες λεπτομέρειες
μπροστά στ' αξεσουάρ που μου παρέχει;
Μικρόφωνα, τηλέφωνα, κουμπιά
σοφές αριθμομηχανές, επίπεδες οθόνες.
Μπορώ να δω τα πάντα από δω.
Τις εκτελέσεις, τα μαρτύρια, τις φωτιές
τα μαχαιρώματα, τα κόκκινα σημάδια.
Μεγάλο πράγμα η τεχνολογία.
Το αίμα κατακλύζει το κελί
στιγμές φαντασιώνομαι πως είναι το δικό μου.

Θα σας μιλήσω ανοιχτά.
Μέχρι προχθές
παράπονο δεν είχα στο κελί μου.
Έλεγα πως μπορώ να πολιτεύομαι
να ερωτεύομαι, να ζω
να εκπαιδεύομαι
να περιμένω βολεμένος τη σειρά μου.
Μέχρι που χθες το βράδυ ανακάλυψα
ότι η πόρτα του δεν ήταν κλειδωμένη.

The Poet

Haris Melitas comes from the island of Kythira and was born in Athens. He is an architect and professor at the Higher Pedagogical and Technological School of Education. He has published 15 collections of poetry, a collection of short stories, as well as an abridged version of History of Art. He has been awarded for his poetry, short story writing and haiku. He has also presented poets in societies municipalities and at the Patras Poetic Symposium. He is a member of the Poetic Circle.

Ο Χάρης Μελιτάς γεννήθηκε στην Αθήνα, αλλά έλκει την καταγωγή του από τα Κύθηρα. Αρχιτέκτων Μηχανικός Ε.Μ.Π., τ. καθηγητής της Ανωτάτης Σχολής Παιδαγωγικής και Τεχνολογικής Εκπαίδευσης (Α.Σ.ΠΑΙ.Τ.Ε.). Εξέδωσε 15 ποιητικές συλλογές, μία συλλογή διηγημάτων και την επίτομη Ιστορία της Τέχνης από τον Οργανισμό Εκδόσεων Διδακτικών Βιβλίων (Ο.Ε.Δ.Β.). Βραβεύτηκε στην Ελλάδα και το εξωτερικό, ενώ παρουσίασε ποιητές σε Εταιρείες, Δήμους και στο Ποιητικό Συμπόσιο των Πατρών. Η ποιητική του συλλογή ''Εξαιρέσεις'' από τις εκδόσεις ''Μανδραγόρας'', ήταν στη βραχεία λίστα των βραβείων ''Jean Moreas'' για τα βιβλία του 2018. Είναι μέλος του Κύκλου Ποιητών.

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