Constantine Contogenis, poet and translator, was a finalist for 2024 Pablo Neruda Poetry Prize. His poetry chapbook, Between One Thing and Its Other, is forthcoming (Finishing Line Press, 2026). His first collection, Ikaros (Word Press, 2004), won a First Prize “Open Voice Poetry Award,” Writer’s Voice. Co-translated Songs of the Kisaeng: Courtesan Poetry of Last Korean Dynasty (BOA Editions, 1997). Included in Joining Music with Reason: 34 Poets, British and American: Oxford 2004-2009, chosen by Christopher Ricks (Waywiser, 2011), and Pomegranate Seeds: Anthology of Greek-American Poetry, ed. Dean Kostos (Somerset Hall, 2008). Published by numerous journals and PSA’s Poetry in Motion.
PRAISE:
“Constantine Contogenis gives us a Cavafy both plainer and richer than that of previous translators, a Cavafy whose subtle ironies temper his brazenness, who whispers his bold truths with a faint twinkle in his eye. Reading these versions I feel, more than ever before, that I am alone in a quiet room with a daringly honest observer of life, whose observations can only be shared with one listener at a time, lest a detail of small size but great significance—perhaps only a slight shift in emphasis—be drowned out by another’s breathing.”
–Boris Dralyuk, poet, translator, and editor in chief of Nimrod International Journal
“These are superb translations, bringing out the patterns of Cavafy’s essential solitude, as if he were looking through an only slightly distorting glass and believing it a mirror.”
–Harold Augenbraum, Co-Founder, Yale Translation Initiative
NEWS AND MORE:
Recent review:
https://arts.columbia.edu/news/our-cavafy-new-translations-iconic-greek-poet-constantine-contogenis-98-out-finishing-line
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