Miltos Sachtouris

Miltos Sachtouris (: July 29, 1919, Athens – March 29, 2005, Athens) was a Greek poet. He was a descendant of Georgios Sachtouris, whose origins were the Island of Ydra. When he was young he abandoned his law studies to follow his real passion, poetry, adopting the pen name Miltos Chrysanthis. Sachtouris wrote his first poetry collection, The Music of My Islands, under his pen name in 1941.

Poetry

Sachtouris met Nikos Engonopoulos in 1943. He later worked with Engonopoulos on Ikaros. He began works and continued to pass time at the Brazilian on Voukourestiou Street along with Elytis, Sinopoulos, Vakalo, Papaditsas, Karouzos and others. In 1960, he published When I Talk to you and The Spectres, or Joy on the Other Street. Two years later, he received the Second State Poet Prize in 1962 for The Stigmata. He later wrote The Seal, or The Eighth Moon (1964) and The Utensil (1971) from the publishings of Keimena.

Personal life

He had a long term relationship since 1960 until his death with the artist Gianna Persaki. Gianna Persaki was the creative director in most of his publications after 1960 and he dedicated to her, among many collections, "Skevos" 1971 and several poems including "The Clocks Turned Upside Down". In 2003 Gianna Persaki received the Greek State Prize of Literature on his behalf, a prize that was awarded by the Greek Ministry of Culture and the president of the Hellenic Republic. Accordingly, upon receipt of the award she made a public speech where she also quoted: "Nikos Karouzos is saying that life is a garden which fades away, and Sachtouris is saying life is a short violet".

Translations His work has been translated and published in several languages including English, French, German, Russian, Polish, Italian, Spanish, Dutch. There are some translations of his work in English including The Forgotten Woman.

Works The Music of My Islands (Η Μουσική των Νησιών μου, 1941) Christmas '43 (Χριστούγεννα '43, 1944) The Forgotten Woman (Η Λησμονημένη, 1945) The Heroine (Η Ηρωίδα, 1947) The Wounded Woman (Η Πληγωμένη, 1947) Death (Ο Θάνατος, 1947) The Battle (Η Μάχη, 1947) Paralogais (Παραλογαίς, 1948) With the Face on the Wall (Με το Πρόσωπο στον Τοίχο, 1952) When I Talk to you (Όταν σας Μιλώ, 1956) The Spectres, or Joy on the Other Street (Τα Φάσματα, η Η Χαρά στον Άλλο Δρόμο, 1958) The Walk (Ο Περίπατος, 1960) The Stigmata (Τα Στίγματα, 1962) The Seal, or The Eighth Moon (Σφραγίδα, ή Η Όγδοη Σελήνη, 1964) The Utensil (Το Σκεύος, 1971) Poems 1945-1981 (Ποιήματα 1945-1981, 1977) Colorwounds (Χρωμοτραύματα, 1980) Ectoplasms (Εκτοπλάσματα, 1986) Sinking (Καταβύθιση, 1990) Since (Έκτοτε, 1996) Voice from the Other Shore (Φωνή απ' την Άλλη Ακρογυαλιά, 1997) The Clocks Turned Upside Down (Ανάποδα Γυρίσαν τα Ρολόγια, 1998) Poems 1980-1998 (Ποιήματα 1980-1998, 2002) "Diavazo" lit. magazine (λογ. περιοδικό "Διαβάζω", January 2003)

Translations

Selected Poems, tr. K. Friar (1982)