Nanos Valoritis on Literature and Poetry

Here’s a poem of his — “Endless Crucifixion” — from the late-20th century.

Nanos Valaoritis (b. 1921) is a widely acknowledged Greek poet, novelist, essayist and translator. After completing his studies in Athens, London and Sorbonne, he moved to London in 1944, where he translated modernist Greek poets from the 1930’s and contributed regularly to avant-guard literary reviews. He frequented London’s literary community, meeting poets such as T.S. Eliot, Stephen Spender, W.H. Auden and Dylan Thomas. In 1954 he moved to Paris where he met André Breton and participated in the activities of the Surrealist group. After his return to Greece he became the editor of numerous collective volumes and reviews, introducing Surrealist and Beat poetry and literature to the Greek audience. He has taught Creative Writing and Comparative Literature at San Francisco State University, while his own books have been published by City Lights Publishers. He has been awarded by the American National Poetry Association, a prize that has been reserved for Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Allen Ginsberg, etc. In 2004 he received the poetry prize of the Athens Academy of Letters and Science. He is married to the American surrealist painter, Marie Wilson.