Journalists’ tribute to Palamas
The journalistic dimension of the late Costis Palamas’s life is often overshadowed by his great fame as a poet. With this in mind, the Journalists’ Union of Athens Daily Newspapers (ESIEA) has organized a tribute event this evening marking the 60th anniversary of Palamas’s death. «In Remembrance of Costis Palamas,» a poetry event, will be held at the union’s Georgios Karatzas Hall, 20 Academias St, at 7.30 p.m. Three speeches will open the tribute’s proceedings. Costas Sardelis, a journalist and writer who has penned a biography of Palamas, will deliver a speech titled «Costis Palamas: Sixty Years Later.» Kathimerini columnist Pantelis Boukalas will follow with a speech titled «Costis Palamas: Present-Absent.» Veteran actress Anna Synodinou, an honorary ESIEA member, will project her views in a speech titled «Costis Palamas: The Sole Grace of Modern Greek Theater.» The tribute will close with poetry recitals from Melina Botelli and Paschalis Tsarouhas. Palamas, who studied law in Athens, began working in journalism at a young age as a concurrent vocation alongside his poetry writing and other ventures. He worked for several newspapers, including Acropolis, for which he was a parliamentary reporter, Ephimerida, Embros and Nea Imera. The late poet, who was noted for versatile writing that produced epics, plays, short stories and critiques, always stood by his efforts as a journalist. In an August 19, 1935 letter addressed to the Journalists’ Union, Palamas wrote: «I consider being a poet as the major part of my work life, but I have never separated or distinguished it from my work as a journalist… History has taught us that the most talented representatives of the artistic world have often worked as journalists.»
