The presentation of the poetry collection of the 21-year-old folk poet Efraim Christou, entitled “Root, my heart” took place yesterday, January 24th, at the Ceremony Hall of the University of Cyprus in Kallipoleos. The hall was filled with friends, fellow students and fellow villagers of the young poet, who found themselves in an artistic encounter in a packed hall with fans of the Cypriot tradition.
The event started with a musical-artistic program, while it was followed by greetings and speeches. Greetings were addressed by Menelaos Menelaou, Head of the Student’s Affairs of the University of Cyprus, Markos Katsiatis, on behalf of the Cyprus Folk Poets Association and Elias Epifaniou, Publisher.
The book was presented by Petros Papapolyviou, Associate Professor of the Department of History and Archeology of the University of Cyprus and were followed by speeches by Angelos Sophokleous, Ph.D.-Researcher in Philosophy, as well as by the author of the book, Efraim Christou.
After the reading of poems from his poetry collection, a short video was presented outlining some of his important moments and messages from his friends.
The event was attended among others by AKEL MP Christos Christofides who, speaking to Voice International, stated that “Efraim deserves warm congratulations, not only because he writes poetry, but because he tackles issues of wider interest, political, social, emotional, historical. And you realize for a young man at the age of 21 to show such maturity, such depth and such sensitivity is rare I think. Also, if one looks at the poems, he understands that we are talking about an excellent connoisseur of the Cypriot dialect, which Cypriot dialect comes from the depths of the centuries. It is the only dialect in which complete Homeric phrases are preserved and it is a wealth that must be preserved, because it would be a shame to lose it. We support such initiatives and I hope that Efraim will continue with other children as well.”
Kallis Antounas-Voice International 2024
