Antonis Fostieris


Andonis Fostieris is a Greek poet. He studied Law at the University of Athens and History of Law at Sorbonne, Paris. Since 1981, he is co-editor and director of the literary periodical Η λέξη.
Fostieris is one of the eminent poets of the so-called Generation of the Seventies Genia tou 70, which is a literary term referring to Greek authors who began publishing their work during the 1970s, especially towards the end of the Greek military junta of 1967-1974 and at the first years of the Metapolitefsi. Fostieris has been considerably translated; that includes translation into English by Kimon Friar, the acclaimed translator and scholar for his Modern Greek literature translations.

His poetry

Fostieris' poetic quest is realised in a language marked for its clarity and intimacy. Through a dense poetic language, refined to the degree of perfection, Fostieris seeks to outline a view of life: “The problem of poetic expression has been shifted from the agonising quest for the avant-garde and the old axiom ‘it does not matter what you say, but how you say it’. Without ignoring the manner, the essence, the view of life that the work represents counts more and more.” Fostieris builds his structures within each poem and across the collection as a whole. His poetry is multilayered and rich in intertextual references, like in the following excerpt from 'Poetry is Not Made of Ideas':
''In any case / Mallarmé excluded it: / Poetry is not made of ideas. /. / Consequently / You are left with the feeling. / You are left with the feeling / Of affliction / Of the eternal triumph / Of feelings.

Selected poetry