On Friday, March 21 (World Poetry Day) Thomas Sideris presents a two-part tribute to two of the most significant poets of the interwar period, Maria Polydouri and Anna Akhmatova, as part of the radio series “Unguarded Passage”
The first part, titled “Life, how did you surrender me with a kiss to the executioners?” is dedicated to Maria Polydouri. This radio documentary features as its main narrator Nora Polydouri, the poet’s niece and daughter of her younger brother, who speaks publicly for the first time. She unveils unknown details of Polydouri’s brief life, reads her aunt’s poems, and highlights the poet’s close bond with her brother. Additionally, the program delves into the impact of the tuberculosis sanatorium “Sotiria,” which left a lasting mark on Polydouri.
The second part, “Moscow’s Requiem,” is devoted to another major poet of the interwar period, Anna Akhmatova. In Russia, in the late 1930s, one among the millions of innocent people arrested and lost in prison dungeons and labor camps was the son of Anna Akhmatova, one of the greatest Russian poets of the 20th century.
At that time, she composed poems she dared not commit to paper—trusted friends memorized and recited them for years to preserve them. By exorcising her personal tragedy, Akhmatova spoke on behalf of all victims, as well as all the women and mothers who had lost their husbands and sons.
Research & Presentation: Thomas Sideris