Modern Poetry in Translation – The Antidote to Agony: Focus on the Poetry of Greece and Cyprus

Thursday 16 Apr 2026

Join us for the presentation of Modern Poetry in Translation’s latest issue, The Antidote to Agony: Focus on the Poetry of Greece and Cyprus, featuring 30 contemporary poets who expand the boundaries of Modern Greek, Bulgarian and Arvanitika in English translation. The event will include poetry readings by issue contributors Kostya Tsolakis, Calliope Michail, Phoebe Giannisi and Brian Sneeden, and will be introduced by guest editor Jessica Sequeira.

The Antidote to Agony features 30 selections of poems by contemporary poets, translated into English, expanding the linguistic boundaries of Modern Greek, Bulgarian and Arvanitika, reflecting on migrant crossings in the Mediterranean, female friendship, the transcription of orality, imagined plagues, the encounters of bodies, the AIDS pandemic, and artistic ruin, among other themes.

The evening will include poetry readings from issue contributors; by Kostya Tsolakis of his translations of Nikolas Koutsodontis and George Le Nonce, Calliope Michail of her translations of Argyris Chionis and Iliassa Sequin, and Brian Sneeden and poet Phoebe Giannisi will perform poems from Giannisi’s recent collection Goatsong, as featured in this issue of MPT.

Modern Poetry in Translation was founded by Ted Hughes and Daniel Weissbort in 1965. They published poetry that dealt truthfully with the real contemporary world. For 60 years, MPT has continued and widened that founding intent. To see more, please visit: modernpoetryintranslation.com

Image: Aegis – Design, texts, drawings by Phoebe Giannisi, leather processing by Argyris Kappas

Additional information

Kostya Tsolakis

Kostya Tsolakis’s Greekling (Nine Arches Press) is a Poetry Book Society Recommendation and was shortlisted in 2024 for the Runciman Award and the Polari First Book Prize. He is founding editor of harana poetry, the online magazine for poets writing in English as a second or parallel language.

Calliope Michail

Calliope Michail is a poet and translator, currently undertaking a PhD at King’s College London. She is the Poetry Editor of Stillpoint Journal, and her work has appeared in various publications. 

Brian Sneeden

Brian Sneeden is the author of two collections of poetry, including most recently Year of the Labyrinth (Carnegie Mellon, 2026), and translator of four collections from Modern Greek, including Phoebe Giannisi’s GOATSONG (Fitzcarraldo, 2025). He is a senior lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University. 

Phoebe Giannisi

Phoebe Giannisi is the author of nine collections of poetry, including Chimera (Kastaniotis, 2019), and Thetis and Aedon (Kastaniotis, 2021). Giannisi is a professor of architecture at the University of Thessaly, and co-editor of the literary journal [FRMK].