Each weekly episode is a tribute to a contemporary poet from Greece or the Greek Diaspora.
The poets recite their poems themselves, along with an original live music background.
The Poet of the Week 05-11 February 2024 is Manolis Pratikakis.
Manolis Pratikakis was born in Myrtos, a coastal village on the Libyan Sea. He left when he was eighteen, but still has strong attachments to his birthplace. He is a psychiatrist, PhD holder from the University of Athens and until recently he was Director of the Psychiatric Clinic of the Hellenic Red Cross Hospital. He has published nineteen poetry collections, two books of short stories and novels and has written two screenplays for feature films in collaboration with director and writer Makis Moraitis. He is a founding member of the Society of Authors.
His work has been translated into all mainstream European languages and many others. In 1999 he represented Greece for the Award for Excellence for European literature for his collection: The Assumption and Resurrection of the Bodies of Dominikos, which was translated into three languages. In 2003 he received the State Prize for Poetry for his collection Water. In 2008 he was awarded by the Pancretan Union
of Scientists for his work as a scientist and poet. In 2012 he received the Academy of Athens Excellence Award for his lifetime work. Composer Yannis Markopoulos created a CD using as a main theme six of Pratikakis’ poems from his collection Libido which he named “Invisible Pulse”.
In 2001 the same composer created a symphony based on Pratikakis’ poetry entitled “The Symphony of Healing” which was performed with great success in the Music Palace of Athens. Many of his poems have been set to music by: Kostas Stefanou (The Concert of Nature), Chara Palaiologou (Waves of Light) and Pavlos Daskalakis who composes contemporary Cretan melodies.
Music supervision by Maria Reboutsika
Sound Editing by Eleftheria Papoutsaki, Ermioni Katsigianni
Broadcast: Monday to Friday at 07:00 and 19:00 and on the weekend at 19.00 (Athens time)
