Cretan Canadian Poet, Author, Translator, Publisher
Author: vequinox
BIOGRAPHY
Manolis (Emmanuel Aligizakis) is a Greek-Canadian poet and author. He was recently appointed an honorary instructor and fellow of the International Arts Academy, and awarded a Master’s for the Arts in Literature. He is recognized for his ability to convey images and thoughts in a rich and evocative way that tugs at something deep within the reader. Born in the village of Kolibari on the island of Crete in 1947, he moved with his family at a young age to Thessaloniki and then to Athens, where he received his Bachelor of Arts in Political Sciences from the Panteion University of Athens. After graduation, he served in the armed forces for two years and emigrated to Vancouver in 1973, where he worked as an iron worker, train labourer, taxi driver, and stock broker, and studied English Literature at Simon Fraser University. He has written three novels and numerous collections of poetry, which are steadily being released as published works. His articles, poems and short stories in both Greek and English have appeared in various magazines and newspapers in Canada, United States, Sweden, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, Australia, and Greece. His poetry has been translated into Spanish, Romanian, Swedish, German, Hungarian languages and has been published in book form or in magazines in various countries. He now lives in White Rock, where he spends his time writing, gardening, traveling, and heading Libros Libertad, an unorthodox and independent publishing company which he founded in 2006 with the mission of publishing literary books. His translation book “George Seferis-Collected Poems” was shortlisted for the Greek National Literary Awards the highest literary recognition of Greece.
Distinguished Awards
Winner of the Dr. Asha Bhargava Memorial Award, Writers International Network Canada, 2014
“George Seferis-Collected Poems” translated by Manolis, shortlisted for the Greek National Literary Awards, translation category.
1st International Poetry Prize for his translation of “George Seferis-Collected Poems”, 2013
Master of the Arts in Literature, International Arts Academy, 2013
1st Prize for poetry, 7th Volos poetry Competition, 2012
Honorary instructor and fellow, International Arts Academy, 2012
2nd Prize for short story, Interartia festival, 2012
2nd Prize for Poetry, Interartia Festival, 2012
2nd Prize for poetry, Interartia Festival, 2011
3rd prize for short stories, Interartia Festival, 2011
Books by Manolis
Autumn Leaves, poetry, Ekstasis Editions, 2014
Übermensch/Υπεράνθρωπος, poetry, Ekstasis Editions, 2013
Mythography, paintings and poetry, Libros Libertad, 2012
Nostos and Algos, poetry, Ekstasis Editions, 2012
Vortex, poetry, Libros Libertad, 2011
The Circle, novel, Libros Libertad, 2011
Vernal Equinox, poetry, Ekstasis Editions, 2011
Opera Bufa, poetry, Libros Libertad, 2010
Vespers, poetry by Manolis paintings by Ken Kirkby, Libros Libertad, 2010
Triptych, poetry, Ekstasis Editions, 2010
Nuances, poetry, Ekstasis Editions, 2009
Rendition, poetry, Libros Libertad, 2009
Impulses, poetry, Libros Libertad, 2009
Troglodytes, poetry, Libros Libertad, 2008
Petros Spathis, novel, Libros Libertad, 2008
El Greco, poetry, Libros Libertad, 2007
Path of Thorns, poetry, Libros Libertad, 2006
Footprints in Sandstone, poetry, Authorhouse, Bloomington, Indiana, 2006
The Orphans - an Anthology, poetry, Authorhouse, Bloomington, Indiana, 2005
Translations by Manolis
Idolaters, a novel by Joanna Frangia, Libros Libertad, 2014
Tasos Livaditis-Selected Poems, Libros Libertad, 2014
Yannis Ritsos-Selected Poems, Ekstasis Editions, 2013
Cloe and Alexandra-Selected Poems, Libros Libertad, 2013
George Seferis-Collected Poems, Libros Libertad, 2012
Yannis Ritsos-Poems, Libros Libertad, 2010
Constantine P. Cafavy - Poems, Libros Libertad, 2008
Cavafy-Selected Poems, Ekstasis Editions, 2011
Books in other languages
Eszmelet, (Hungarian), poetry by Manolis Aligizakis, translated into Hungarian by Karoly Csiby, AB-ART, Bratislava, Slovakia, 2014
Hierodoules, (Greek), poetry, Sexpirikon, Salonica, Greece, 2014
Yperanthropos,(Greek), poetry, ENEKEN Publications, Salonica, Greece, 2014
Übermensch (German), poetry by Manolis Aligizakis, translated into German by Eniko Thiele Csekei, WINDROSE, Austria, 2014
Nostos si Algos, (Romanian) poetry by Manolis Aligizakis, translated into Romanian by Lucia Gorea, DELLART, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, 2013
Tolmires Anatasis, (Greek) poetry, GAVRIILIDIS EDITIONS, Athens, Greece, 2013
Filloroes, (Greek ) poetry, ENEKEN PUBLICATIONS, Thessaloniki, Greece, 2013
Earini Isimeria, (Greek) poetry, ENEKEN PUBLICATIONS, Thessaloniki, Greece, 2011
Stratis o Roukounas, (Greek) novel, MAVRIDIS EDITIONS, Athens, Greece, 1981
Magazines
Canadian Fiction Magazine—Victoria, BC
Pacific Rim Review of Books—Victoria, BC
Canadian Poetry Review—Victoria, BC
Monday Poem, Leaf Press-Lantzville, BC
The Broadkill Review, Milton, Delaware
Ekeken, Thessaloniki, Greece
Envolimon, Beotia, Greece
Annual Literary Review, Athens, Greece
Stigmes, Crete, Greece
Apodimi Krites, Crete, Greece
Patris, Crete, Greece
Nyxta-Mera, Chania, Greece
Wallflowers, Thessaloniki, Greece
Diasporic Literature Spot, Melbourne, Australia
Black Sheep Dances, California, USA
Diasporic Literature Magazine, Melbourne, Australia
Spotlight on the Arts, Surrey, BC
Barnwood, International Poetry Magazine, Seattle, USA
Unrorean, University of Maine, Farmington, Maine, USA
Vakhikon, Athens, Greece
Paremvasi, Kozani, Greece
Szoros Ko, Bratislava, Slovakia
Mediterranean Poetry, Sweden
Apostaktirio, Athens, Greece
Life and Art, Athens, Greece
Logos and Images, Athens, Greece
Contemporary Writers and Thinkers, Athens, Greece
Palinodiae, Athens, Greece
Royal City Poet’s Anthology, 2013, New Westminster, BC, Canada
To parathyro, Paris, France
Ragazine C.C, New Jersey
Artenistas, Athens Greece
Deucalion the Thessalos, Greece.
Literary Lectern, Athens, Greece
Homo Universalis, Athens Greece
Εκείνο το «δεν εννοείς να μεγαλώσεις», είχε πάψει από καιρό να με πικραίνει — το ’νιωθα μάλιστα, έτσι κάπως σαν προνόμιό μου — η άλλη μου όραση, η κρυφή χαρά μου. Τα χαράματα έβγαινα μόνη μες στην εύπιστη δροσιά του κήπου. Καθόμουν και κοίταζα ώρες τα πουλιά. Πολύ συχνά, κάποιο σπουργίτι κατέβαινε στη γη και περπατούσε αστεία, μιμούμενο με ακρίβεια τα κορίτσια στο πρώτο ραντεβού τους· — δεν το ’πα στα κορίτσια μη και θυμώσουν με όλα τα πουλιά· παρότι πολύ το λαχταρούσα ν’ ανακοινώσω αυτή την ανακάλυψή μου, ή κι αποκάλυψη μπορείς να πεις —γιατί όχι;— έτσι πίστευα τότε (ίσως και τώρα·) — κάτι τέτοια ασήμαντα πράγματα φτιάχνουν καμιά φορά το πρόσωπό μας και τον κόσμο, — έτσι δεν είναι;
That phrase, you don’t mean to grow up didn’t embitter me
anymore;
I even felt it as my privilege, my second vision, my secret
joy. At dawn I used to go out to the believable freshness of
the garden. I sat and looked at the birds for hours. Quite often
a sparrow would come and saunter in a funny way, mimicking
accurately the girls on their first date. I never said it to the girls
so they wouldn’t get angry with the birds, although I felt so
strongly to announce that discovery, revelation, you could say,
why not? I believed that back then (perhaps even now), some
insignificant things like these make up our faces and the world,
Τα αποτελέσματα των ερευνών στον προϊστορικό οικισμό Λαζάρηδων.
Της Νινέττας Κοντράρου – Ρασσιά
Εναν ακμαίο μυκηναϊκό οικισμό κρύβει η άγνωστη πλευρά της Αίγινας, εκείνην που αγνοούν όχι μόνο οι επισκέπτες, αλλά και πολλοί Αιγινήτες. Είναι η ανατολική πλευρά, στην οποία υπήρχαν μέχρι την εποχή μας πολλά μικρά χωριά, οικογενειακές εγκαταστάσεις τα περισσότερα, εξ ου και τα ονόματά τους, όπως Μπενάκηδες, Κανάκηδες, Τζίκηδες, σήμερα εγκαταλελειμμένα.
Those days I stayed in the dark side of the house, I mean, where one day everything will be explained; the poor seamstress came each night; she undressed and cried: “I want to live a story” she said while I cut beautiful adventures with the scissors and she usually left some money for me or when someone died the cemetery seemed smaller to me; I therefore narrated stories in a low voice since everything was just a dream and at any time you could wake up.
Η Ελευσίνα συνδέει όλους τους μύθους της μαζί και δημιουργεί Μυστήρια Μετάβασης όλο το 2023
Γράφει η ΚΑΤΕΡΙΝΑ Ι. ΑΝΕΣΤΗ
Ο αρχαίος τόπος όπου η Περσεφόνη κατέβαινε στον Αδη, όπου τελούνταν τα Ελευσίνια μυστήρια, συναντά τις καμινάδες της εκβιομηχάνισης, το νεκροταφείο πλοίων, τις κοινότητες από όλη την Ελλάδα. Ελευσίνα, η πιο αλλόκοτη και αρχαία Πολιτιστική Πρωτεύουσα της Ευρώπης.
Στον δρόμο είδα έναν που καλαφάτιζε το σπίτι του. Θα έχουμε φουρτούνες, μου είπε. Γέμιζε τις σχισμές των αρμών, μοσχοβολούσε το ρετσίνι στις ρωγμές του. Μέσα στο σπίτι σκούπιζαν, έπλεναν, γενική καθαριότητα να φύγουν οι θόρυβοι. Κάποια στιγμή, γύρισε προς το μέρος μου. Ξέρεις, ζούμε με την απογοήτευση για την ανημποριά αυτού του κόσμου και με τον θρίαμβο ότι μπορούμε και επιβιώνουμε σε κάποιον άλλον.
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ΠΡΑΓΜΑΤΑ ΠΟΥ ΔΙΑΦΕΥΓΟΥΝ ΤΗΣ ΠΡΟΣΟΧΗΣ ΜΑΣ
Σε πολλά πράγματα που διαφεύγουν της ιδιαίτερης προσοχής μας ανοίγουμε την πόρτα να μπουν στην κουζίνα από το να τους απαγορεύουμε την είσοδο. Πίνουν από τα ποτήρια μας, τρώνε από τα πιάτα μας, χτυπούν τη γλώσσα τους και αναδεύονται δυνατά. Βγάζουμε τα αγκάθια τους από τις πατούσες μας, ακούμε βαριές τις ανάσες τους και από την έντονη μυρωδιά τους στον διάδρομο, αναρωτιόμαστε αν εντέλει θα ψοφήσουν κάτω από τα εσωτερικά κουφώματα.