CYPRUS MAIL & Event Response-essay

It was a crisp evening on the fourth day of November, when the official car of the Swedish ambassador strolled down the cosy street facing the new building of the EUC [European University Cyprus] campus. As I hustled up the numerous steps to make my way up to Auditorium A, I saw people from the island’s literary community (both familiar and unfamiliar faces that is), greet one another. This to me, symbolized the inauguration of ‘Cadences,’ the finest poetic event to take place this year.
The auditorium was jam-packed, since it seems that intellectuals and university students alike, took an avid interest in either presenting or listening to, the inspirational poems and assorted prose comprising the multilingual (i.e. Greek, Turkish and English-written) Cadences journal. Mr. Karayiannis (head of the EUC’s Literature department), was donned in his immaculate black suit and flashy gold tie ; and welcomed all the lovers of the genre, with his subtle charm and distinctly caustic humour. He then invited Mr. B. to the podium, who updated the eager audience about the sponsoring (EUR 400 million) but also the cultural importance of literary translation, which is at the forefront of the EU’s efforts to overcome linguistic and ethnic discord among the member states, under the motto “ unity and diversity. ”

The aesthetic event, was an excuse for socialization between academics from different educational and literary backgrounds, despite the fact that the tasty, traditional snippets were to be served at the end of the poetry readings. The evening kicked off with two poems, recited by the erudite and soft-spoken Swedish ambassador. Ingemar Lindahl admitted that Cyprus is indeed a fascinating place and emphasized the special relations that (‘un-split’ by political conflict) Cyprus and Sweden have shared since pre-industrial times, due to our combined achievements in the field of archeology. Other foreign poets (from Europe and the States), were immediately invited to instill the public with the unique spirit of poetry and appreciation of the arts. Philosophical interpretations on various aspects of life were reflected in their poems, as in those presented by Greek-Cypriot poets in the English language.
I suddenly felt a tingling sensation of pride run down my spine, as I concentrated on the alluring words, woven into many a writer’s interesting literary or poetic style. I deemed myself as being privileged, to live in a society where intellectually-orientated events such as this one, comprised a significant part of our small nation’s earnest aspiration to promote ethical values through a critique of the society that we live in (i.e. as perceived from the prosaic passages and poems that the speakers acquainted us with). The poet David Porter, provided his literary audience with a means of coming to terms with issues of contemporary worth, for in stance in the form of globalisation (the American perspective on tourism in cosmopolitan New York was compared with the quiet and secluded atmosphere of Nicosia. In due turn, such outlooks could undeniably help us search for deeper meaning in our day to day lives.

Nearly every single performing poet, read their masterpieces in English ; including the Turkish-Cypriots. I became aware of the mutual sense of nostalgia felt by Greek and Turkish-Cypriots, as they recounted milestones from Cyprus’ recent past and provided colorful, multicultural imagery as regards the island’s present character, in poetic verse and prosaic discourse. One ought to keep in that a poetry movement or interest group of this calibre, regardless of whether Cyprus doesn’t really have a tradition of poetic rhetoric, is in actual fact the main driving force behind Greek and Turkish Cypriot literary and simultaneously social creativity, since in essence it explores the mores and attitudes of the locals and confronts these precise real life aspects in an unbiased way. I noticed that one of the poems presented by Mrs Aydin Mehmet Ali, brought to the surface the sensitive issue of ‘missing’ people, whilst another of her writings discussed the demographic changes to Nicosia, which seemed to highlight the contrast between conventional / traditional and contemporary culture.

These learned scholars have made it their mission to enlighten us about social and possibly even political issues that affect the common man, woman and child within the greater realms of Cypriot society, and this led to a newborn sense of optimism springing from within me. My intense feelings of hope were provoked by the fact that I was convinced that Greek and Turkish Cypriots could merge their voices and face the issues that in modern times are often a source of common hatred as a solid and strong entity. That is to say, that literature as a whole, has the power to break barriers and make people view the world that they cohabit, in a more rational and open-minded manner. I am under the impression that these bi-communal literary representatives have encouraged people, either old or young to celebrate the richness of their shared heritage, by evoking feelings of national or moral harmony amongst their audience and by granting students and seniors with priceless insight about times which will never be able to come back or be changed. The new generation of youngsters in Cyprus will therefore be able to interact with one another, by showing a greater degree of integrity. They will be able to learn from the good and bad experiences of those who lived at a momentous period of Cyprus’ socio-political history, and promote these crucial lessons to people in a similar situation. In this light, I tend to think that we should not be hindered from expressing our perceptions of the society which has raised, irrelevant of whether other social or ethnic groups agree with us or not us. Trying to show understanding towards one another by promoting and accepting our so-called differences is one of the challenges which young Cypriots must aim to fulfil. It will then be much easier for us to mould our dual identity based on respect of both community’s common and uncommon beliefs and principles, such as those of religious faith, educational priorities, cultural norms and customs / rituals etc, all of which influence the social trends of our ethnically mixed nation.
I would like to note that this year’s poetry performance coincided with the centenary of Yiannis Ritsos’ birth. The acclaimed Armenian-Cypriot poet, Mrs Nora Nadjarian, explained how she had been motivated by the poetic construction of Ritsos’ literary work to write her own poem (“Moon,”), which she narrated in a truly expressive and poignant voice. Mrs. Evidiki Perikleous Papadopoulou stunned the event’s spectators with her original and bilingual poem “A Variation of Moonlight Serenade,” which she delivered in Greek with a parallel translation into English. It was finally the turn of the Cypriot students from private Greek and English schools, to prove their innate poetic talent to us. Each and every poem recited by these young, award-winning poets, were uniquely mesmerizing and equally impressive ; both in terms of its content and the empathetic way in which it was articulated. Overall I must say, that Cadences was an event not to be missed, especially since it marks a sensational transition and is a chief contributor, to Cyprus’ cultural scene.

P.S. Sorry for being a tad late to post this blog. I'm afraid that my laptop was experiencing some problems today.