A Broken Man in Flower presents new versions of work by one of the most significant Greek poets of the last century, translated by one of the UK's most renowned contemporary poets.
The life of Yannis Ritsos was, to say the least, troubled. From an early age, he was dogged by the tuberculosis that killed his mother and brother. His father and sister suffered breakdowns and spent time in institutions. His poem Epitaphios (1936), a lament for a young man shot dead by the police during a tobacco workers' strike, was publicly burned by the Metaxas regime and his books banned. Throughout his life he was repeatedly persecuted, arrested and placed under house arrest by the oppressive Greek authorities.
The violence and tyranny of dictatorship is often fractured by the surreal. In the poems collected here, written by Ritsos while in prison and under house arrest, that fracture in perception is a wound. A Broken Man in Flower has an introduction by John Kittmer and includes the text of an illuminating and vivid letter sent by Ritsos to his publisher in 1969 while under house arrest on Samos describing his life - and the lives of Greeks - under the repressive rule of the Colonels. Harsent's versions of Ritsos' poems express the revolutionary and experimental nature of his work while also remaining accurate translations from the Greek.
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(@BloodaxeBooks, 23 March 2023, e-book, 160 pages, #ARC from the publisher via @ edelweiss_squad, translated by @DavidHarsent1)
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This is a new poet for me. I really enjoyed A Broken Man in Flower. I was disappointed as half of the book was taken up by a lengthy introduction so you only get around 80 pages of poems. This could have been shorter to allow for more poems as these are the important thing. I liked the fact the poems are quite short for the most part so easy to understand and digest. I liked the style of the poems and the range of themes. I particularly enjoyed The Wax Museum, Midnight, The People and Offshore Trees.
