CHristos Mpravos

Christos Bravos (1948-1987) was born in Deskati, Grevena, but lived in Athens from the age of eighteen. He studied mathematics at the University of Patras and worked at the Ministry of Finance. Although he belonged to the generation of the 1970s, he released his first poetry collection, "Mountain Refuge," late in 1983. Two years later, he published a second collection, "With the Ghosts of Horses," and in 1986, a single-page poem titled "Sonnet of Dark Death," written to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of Lorca's death. He also published articles, chronicles, and critical essays. Among the latter, five in total, notable for their bibliographic awareness and insightful reading, three stand out as they reference Miltos Sachtouris, a poet who greatly influenced Bravos: "Criticism and Miltos Sachtouris. A 'Walk' Inspired by the Introduction to Miltos Sachtouris' Poetry by Yiannis Dallas," published in "The Literary Citizen," issue 43 (June 1981), pp. 70-73; "Miltos Sachtouris 'Ectoplasms,' pages 21," in "The Tree," issues 33-34 (September-October 1987), pp. 21-23; "The 'Carnival' of Miltos Sachtouris: Spell or Vehicle of Horror?" in "Letters and Arts," issue 16 (April 1983), pp. 24-25. The poet fell seriously ill and passed away at the age of 39, on April 20, 1987, the second day of Easter. After his death, in 1996, the collection "After the Myths" was published, featuring images by Chronis Botsoglou, a preface by Michalis Ganas, and edited with an afterword by Michel Fais. This collection, which includes the 1986 single-page poem, is divided into two sections: "Wooden Walls" and "After the Myths," containing five and seven poems respectively. The first section, dated, was written between March 28, 1982, and June 23, 1983 (one on April 9, 1985), while the second section is undated but was written after his two published collections.