CULTURE

New anthology with poems by Costis Palamas just published

Poet Costis Palamas’s work is so extensive that it makes it hard for scholars to approach it; an anthology of his numerous and lengthy poems was necessary. The task was undertaken by a man who has long been studying Palamas’s poetry, Costas Kassinis, whose «Costis Palamas Anthology» was just released by Patakis Publications. Kassinis notes in his introduction: «Palamas’s work covers a 50-year period and extends to more than 20 collections and is therefore only sufficiently known by a few people due to its size. For at least the most important parts of his work to become known to the wider public, the need to make an anthology of his poems by Greek and foreign linguists, critics and poets, arose early, while the poet was still alive. However, as different eras need their own translations, the same applies to anthologies.» He adds that, apart from one’s personal beliefs, one should also take into account objectivity when making an anthology – besides, the criteria of how representative a work is do not run counter to aesthetic criteria. «That is why in this new anthology poems and extracts from all periods, kinds, locations, ways and meter innovations of Palamas’s poetry have been selected.» Useful introduction The large yet delicately made edition contains poems from 21 collections. An extensive introduction functions as a study which places Palamas’s poetry within the context of modern Greek poetry as a whole and is followed by a comparative index of the four Palamas anthologies that exist in modern Greek literature. The introduction is very useful, since it states all pre-existing anthologies, both Greek and foreign, with all of their advantages and disadvantages, according to Kassinis. «The aim of this effort is to bring out the evolutionary perspective of Palamas’s poetry and the ceaseless aesthetic vigilance of its creator,» says Kassinis.

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