Yannis Kontos With Five Paintings by Christos Karas 125pp. Kedros, 2006 ISBN: 960-04-3303-8 ISBN13: 978-960-04-3303-6

Yannis Kontos is one of the most notable and representative of a whole generation of Greek poets who were born at around the end of the Second World War. His poetry stands out for its theatricality, which is further enhanced by its intensely visual and iconic character. “In many poems,” he says, “the words have a chromatic quality. One phrase is red, another blue, another yellow; even an ‘and’ can, for me, be a deep red.” It is not without significance that his works are invariably illustrated with paintings by contemporary Greek artists.
Seconds of Fear is perhaps his most “iconic” book to date. In it, Kontos condenses as never before his poetic gaze over the images of human existence. The biographical note on the book’s flap sets the tone for this, his fifteenth collection: “You’ll find me in the city (in Athens), chasing my ghosts. I get mixed up with painting and the theatre and I think I’m making music. I take no note of the level of my body and I’m forever drowned.”

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