Voice of Greece, ERT’s global radio service for Greeks worldwide, devoted to the dissemination, support and promotion of the Greek language and Greek culture, marks World Greek Language Day—celebrated each year on 9 February, the day of remembrance of our national poet Dionysios Solomos—with a rich, specially curated program featuring tributes and distinguished guests. Throughout the day, linguists and educators, academics, institutional representatives and members of Greek diaspora communities engage in live conversations with Voice of Greece producers, alongside music tributes to settings of Greek poetry and dedicated podcast features.
Program highlights:
At 08:00, the program “Fair Winds and Following Seas” with Antonis Karagiannakis presents selected prose texts and poems dedicated to the sea, ships and the life of seafarers. Actor and author Stelios Mainas speaks about his book Arodou (At Anchor), alongside captain and author Michalis Karpathakis, as well as radio operator Manolis Lykakis and Captain Antonis Mikelis, who present their poetry collections inspired by ships and sailors.
Immediately afterwards, at 09:00, Nikolas Angelidis, on the program “Time in Greece” presents a radio documentary tribute to the Greek press and diaspora media, from 1790 to the present day.
From 10:00 to 12:00, during the program “Greece in the World” hosted by Giorgos Dionysopoulos, discussions feature Giorgos Vlachos, Education Coordinator for Southern Africa, Ioannis, Metropolitan of Zambia and Mozambique, Ioannis Karras, Professor of Applied Linguistics at the Ionian University, as well as representatives of the Hellenic Ministry of Education.
At 12:00, Fuli Zavitsanou hosts linguist Vally Lytra, Professor at Goldsmiths, University of London, and President of the international Special Interest Group “Teaching Greek Abroad” (D.E.L.EXO), for a discussion on multilingualism and the learning of Modern Greek abroad. This is followed, at 13:00, by another special episode marking the day, in which Stavroula Karali welcomes Christoforos Charalambakis, Emeritus Professor at the University of Athens, who speaks about the historical framework of the Greek language, focusing on idioms, local dialects and its linguistic varieties.
At 14:00, the English-language program “Greek Music Express,” hosted by Hercules Economou, presents a tribute featuring songs set to verses by Greece’s two Nobel laureates, Giorgos Seferis and Odysseas Elytis, accompanied by excerpts from their Nobel Prize acceptance speeches, while at 15:00, “The Elves of Tradition,” with Maria Koutsimpiri presents the scholarly and educational work of Dr Simaioforos Theologos, a researcher of the Greek language, under the general title “Hellenic Logos.”
At 16:00, the program “Our Global Voice,” hosted by Dimitris Kontogiannis, welcomes two individuals who played a decisive role in establishing 9 February as World Greek Language Day: Giorgos Koumoutsakos, Greece’s Ambassador to UNESCO and leader of this initiative, and Christos Klairis, Emeritus Professor of Linguistics at the Sorbonne. The tribute continues at 17:00 with the program “Here We Stand” hosted by Elena Karagianni, featuring Vaggelis Velentzas, educator and President of the Association of Greeks in Finland, and Achilles III, author and nominee for the 2025 Greek State Literary Awards.
At 18:00, Voice of Greece broadcasts the double special episode of the program “Historical Walks,” hosted by Marilena Katsimi, focusing on the journey of the Greek language from prehistory to the present day, with guest Eleni Karantzola, Professor of Linguistics at the University of the Aegean. Subsequently, from 20:00 and for two hours, the music program “Irregular Notes” with Stelios Ioannidis, presents a tribute to Greek poetry set to music, while in the second hour Christos Synnefakis, educator and PhD candidate in New Technologies and Artificial Intelligence at the University of Crete, joins the discussion.
Finally, at 22:00, a special episode of the program “Our Town” will be broadcast, in which Themis Rodamitis speaks with Professor Giannis Korinthios, inspirer and leading figure behind the establishment of World Greek Language Day, a prominent member of the Greek diaspora, founding member of the Naples Greek Community and former President of the Federation of Greek Communities and Brotherhoods.
Throughout the day, programs are interspersed with Voice of Greece’s two-minute poetry features, “Poet of the Week,” as well as the festive podcast series “The Greek Language Is…,” in which Greek children from Greek schools abroad share—in their own unique way—what the Greek language means to them.
