Alexis Ziras

Alexis Ziras was born in 1945 in Athens. He is a literary critic, philologist, and translator. In the past, he worked as an executive in commercial enterprises (1969-1974), was responsible for the publishing program at Plethron Editions (1978-1988), a radio program consultant at ERA and ET (1982-1993), and a columnist and literary critic for newspapers such as Thessaloniki, Avgi, Kathimerini, and Eleftherotypia. Today, he is a columnist for the monthly review Diavazo. He served as the editor-in-chief of the Dictionary of Modern Greek Literature by Patakis Editions, a contributor to the Biographical Dictionary of Ekdotiki Athinon and the Papyros-Larousse-Britannica Encyclopedia, and a member of the editorial board of magazines such as Schedia, Letters and Arts, Tomes, Revmata, and Simeio in Nicosia. From 2002 to 2011, he co-directed the quarterly review of criticism K with K.G. Papageorgiou. His articles, critical texts, and translations have also been published in magazines such as I Lexi, To Dentro, Nea Estia, Neo Epipedo, Themata Logotechnias, Bilieto, To Tram, Entefktirio, Nea Poreia, Porfyra, Grafi, Ypostego, Elitrochos, I Akti, I Amaxa, Nea Epohi, Simeio, Mikrofilologika, and Ylandron in Cyprus. In 2009 and 2011, he was elected president of the Board of Directors of the Society of Writers. His works include: Poetry - "Searching..." (private edition), Chalkida, 1966 - "The Sleep of the Cupids," Tram, Thessaloniki, 1976; Plethron, Athens, 1984 Critical Studies, Essays - "Anatomy of an Era - Five Essays on Social Concerns," (private edition), Athens, 1973 - "Theory of Forms (Gide, Kafka, Malraux, Hemingway, Camus, Sartre)," Plethron, 1978; 1992 - "Genealogies. On the Poetry and Poets of the '70s," Roptron, Athens, 1989 - "The Prose of Pericles Sfyridis: Autobiographical Discourse and Fiction," Bilieto, Paiania, 2000 - "From the Personal to the Ontological. Changes in the Poetic Vision of Takis Karvelis," Gavriilidis, Athens, 2002 - "A Greek Abroad: Readings of Other Literatures," Gavriilidis, Athens, 2003 Reprints - Approaches to Modern Poetry 1965-1980, Grafi, Athens, 1980 - "Les Metamorphoses de la prose grecque d' apres guerre. Introduction a l' 'Arrets sur l' image'," Editions Hatier, Paris, 1989 - "Definitions and Correlations in Modern Poetry, 1980-1990," Chalandri, 1992 - "Cypriot Poetry. Thematic, Linguistic, Stylistic Stratifications," Simeio, Nicosia, 1997 - "From the Language of Anger to the Traumatic Language: Poets and Poetics after 1970," Ombros, Athens, 2001 Prose - "The Meeting of Leon Trotsky-André Malraux: A Chronicle," Gavriilidis, Athens, 2003 Translations: - A. Malraux, "The Conquerors," Plethron, Athens, 1979; 1999 - D.H. Lawrence, "The Sun and Other Stories," Nefeli, Athens, 1981 - A. Artaud, "The Monk," Aigokeros, Athens, 1981 - P. Verlaine, "The Accursed Poets," Aigokeros, Athens, 1982 - S. Mallarmé, "Poetry and Music," Plethron, Athens, 1983 - R. Barthes, "Conversations with J.L. Borges," Iridanos, Athens, 1985 - Guy de Maupassant, "8 Erotic Stories," Aigokeros, Athens, 1988 - A. Malraux, "Outline of a Psychology of Cinema," Roptron, Athens, 1989 - L. Lowenthal, "For a Critical Theory of Literature," Roptron, Athens, 1990 - Guy de Maupassant, "The Wolf and Other Stories," Roptron, 1990 - Blaise Cendrars, "Gold," Kastaniotis, Athens, 1998 - "The Art of Writing in the 20th Century" (interviews with foreign writers), Kastaniotis, Athens, 2000