Kostas Karyotakis Posted in: Authors

The Greek poet Kostas Karyotakis (1896–1928) studied law, but took a job as a civil servant and was posted across Greece for work he found tedious and depressing, a fact reflected in the bitter, ironic tone of many of his poems. He published three books of his own poetry and, in addition, translations of poetry —notably by Heinrich Heine, Charles Baudelaire and Paul Verlaine. His work embodies a turning point in Greek poetry, though his critical acclaim has been largely posthumous. Karyotakis took his own life in Preveza, a town lampooned in his very last poem.