A Greek Ballad: Selected Poems

A stunning collection that draws from four decades of verse by one of modern Greece’s most lauded poets

This is the first English-language collection of work by the renowned Greek poet Michalis Ganas. Originally from a remote village on the northwest border of Greece, Ganas witnessed the Greek Civil War as a young child, and was taken into enforced exile in Eastern Europe with his family. Weaving together subtle references to the events and places that have defined his life’s story, Ganas’s terse and technically accomplished poems are a combination of folklore, autobiography, and recent history. Whether describing the mountains of his youth or the difficulties of acclimation in Athens of the 1960s and 1970s, Ganas’s writing is infused with striking and original imagery inspired by love, memory, and loss.

Featuring expert translations-made in collaboration with Ganas himself-by David Connolly and Joshua Barley, this volume also includes a scholarly introduction to the poet’s life and work.