Haus für Poesie

George Christodoulides (*1968, Moscow) is a Greek Cypriot poet and journalist. He grew up in Larnaka, Cyprus, studied journalism in Moscow and worked for TV broadcaster Sigma in Nicosia. He has been a member of the management board of the Cyprus Journalists Association for more than ten years. Christodoulides’s work broaches the theme of poetry as means of adapting to the world linguistically. His expression is compact and reinforced with symbolism, which allows him to transform political conflicts, including the division of Cyprus, into an unsentimental and poetic process of recognition. In 1996, he won the First State Prize for a New Poet for his debut work. He won the State Prize for Poetry for his second volume of poetry in 2001. His works have been published in German in the “Zypern literarisch” anthology (Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus 2008).
Publications (a selection):
Ένια (Enia),Ateleia, 1996.
Ονειροτριβείον (Oneirotriveion), Gavrielides, 2001.
Εγχειρίδιον καλλιεργητή (Encheiridion kalliergiti), Govostis, 2004.
Zypern literarisch, Botschaft der Republik Zypern, 2008.
Απραγματοποίητο (Apragmatopoiito), Gavrielides, 2010.

Adrian Grima (*1968, Malta) teaches Maltese literature at the University of Malta and holds a leading position in the National Council for the Maltese Language. His poems are commentaries and an intellectual analysis of current political events. His poetry volume “Rakkmu” dealt with the fate of the Palestinians, for example. In 2008, he published a volume of poetry and essays on climate change in partnership with Immanuel Mifsud. A book of poetry (Maltese/English) with a music CD by Rory McCarron will be published shortly. Grima has given lectures worldwide on literature, culture and the Mediterranean region and published articles and a few collections of contemporary Maltese literature. Grima co-ordinates the Mediterranean cultural organisation Inizjamed, which he co-founded in 1998, and in 2004 he organised the Klandestini – Emerging Mediterranean Writers festival. He also writes for the Babelmed.net website, which focuses on the culture of the Mediterranean region. Grima has been the director of the Malta Mediterranean Literature Festival for the last four years.
Publications (a selection):
It-Trumbettier, 1999.
The Tragedy of an Elephant, Midsea Books and Inizjamed, 2005.
Rakkmu, Klabb Kotba Maltin, 2006.
Dieser verwundete Frühling / Dir-Rebbiegħa Midruba, Edizzjoni Skarta, 2007.
Riħ min-Nofsinhar, Edizzjoni Skarta, 2008.
Xufftejk Spjegati / Your Deciphered Lips, Verbal Arts Centre, Derry/Londonderry, 2010.

Nora Nadjarian (b. 1966 in Limassol, Cyprus) is an Armenian-Cypriot writer and poet. She studied in England and Switzerland. Her poems deal with everyday episodes which go beyond reality in their atmospheric concentration, pointing to symbolic interior worlds. She writes her poetry mainly in English and Armenian, with a small number in Greek. In her poems she processes her multi-cultural, polyglot make-up. She is a regular participant at poetry festivals, literary conferences and projects in the English-speaking world. Her poems have appeared in German translation in the anthology “Zypern literarisch” (Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus 2008) and in the Literature section of the Cyprus special edition of “Jungle World” 10/2009. She has been concentrating increasingly on writing short stories over the past few years; following “Ledra Street”, she is currently working on the publication of her second collection of stories.
Publications (a selection):
The Voice at the Top of the Stairs, Gitano Publications, 2001.
Cleft in Twain, Cassoulides Ltd, 2003.
25 ways to kiss a man, Cassoulides Ltd, 2004.
Ledra Street, Armida Publications, 2006.
Zypern literarisch, Botschaft der Republik Zypern, 2008.
Nora Nadjarian at ZVAB

Carles Rebassa (*1977, Palma, Mallorca) is a poet and actor. He has also worked as author and prop master on productions by the Mag Teatr – Mag Poesia ensemble. His long poems, written in Catalan, deal with violence, sensuality and passion. Rebassa says that his strongest impulse to right stems from a revolt against injustice. “I like poets that have something concrete to say, that are aggressive and that slap people in the face with their works.” Despite this, Rebessa does not consider himself as a political poet; he prefers to speak about epic poetry. He enjoys performing his poems with musical accompaniment, and he regularly co-operates with other authors in various projects, for example with Pere Perelló and Toti Soler. He worked with Biel Mesquida on the script for the “Auca” film project. He has won the Ausiàs March Prize.
Publications (a selection):
Requiescat in pace, Capaltard, 1998.
Poema B, Ed. 96, 2006.
Els joves i les vídues, Edicions 62, 2006.

Neşe Yaşin (b. 1959 in Peristerona, Cyprus) is a Turkish-Cypriot poet and teaches the Turkish language at the University of Cyprus. In 1965, she and her family fled to the north of the island. A sociologist and peace activist, she was critical of the internationally unrecognised regime of the 'Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus'. Her political convictions led her to move in 1997 to the Republic of Cyprus, where she has since then been active in the Greek Cypriot popular movement, including as co-editor of the journal “Hade”. However, this involvement is not reflected in openly political poetry; rather, Yaşin pours her experience of double exile into the poetic mould of love poems. Thus, Neşe Yaşin has two personas – the public persona, who is a newspaper columnist and radio broadcaster, and the poetic persona, whose subject is the liberating and reconciling power of love. An unmistakeable face has been put on this persona in six books of verse and a novel. She has not only been awarded the only literary prize in the northern part of the island, but is also the first Turkish Cypriot to receive the Cultural Prize of the Republic of Cyprus. Her poems are represented in German in the anthology „Zypern literarisch” (Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus 2008), and English versions of her work can be seen online here: http://www.stwing.upenn.edu/~durduran/newpage/culture/poetry/neseyasin/nese.html
Publications (a selection):
Sümbül ile Nergis, 1978.
Savaşların Gözyaşları, 1980.
Kapılar,1992.
Ay Aşktan Yapılmıştır, Gendaş Kültur 2000.
Üzgün Kızların Gizli Tarihi, İletişim Yayınları 2002.
Bellek Odaları, Dünya Kitaplar, 2005.
Seçme Şiirler, Amargi, 2008.
Zypern literarisch, Botschaft der Republik Zypern, 2008.