George Veltsos 681pp. Indiktos, 2006 ISBN: 960-518-267-Χ ISBN13: 978-960-518-267-0

George Veltsos is an enigmatic figure, not only in the world of Greek letters but also in the Greek world in general. An eminent university professor and a public figure of renown, he turned to writing poetry much later, as he himself admits, than he would have liked. Nevertheless, it is poetry that in the end has claimed his complete devotion. “Who conquered, Regina, with cross in hand? / I’ll tell you: la poésie.” (Shadow p28.) It is unfortunate that his public image has somewhat overshadowed his subsequent poetic oeuvre.
The present volume of collected poems, containing twelve collections published in the space of twelve years, from his first collection Symbols (1993) to his most recent collection I Am Beatrice (2005), allows the reader to follow his remarkable poetic voyage, with ports of call the peaks of European thought and poetry. For Veltsos’ poetry is a continual dialogue with others and above all with himself. Profane, ironic, humorous, tender, his voice resounds like that of a contemporary Archimedes: “Give me a poem to stand / and you’ll see what I move” (Shadow, p.26).

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