MANOLIS ALIGIZAKIS — BIOGRAPHY
Emmanuel Aligizakis, (Manolis) is a Cretan-Canadian poet and author. He’s the most prolific writer-poet of the Greek diaspora. At the age of eleven he transcribed the nearly 500 year old romantic poem Erotokritos, now released in a limited edition of 100 numbered copies and made available for collectors of such rare books at 5,000 dollars Canadian: the most expensive book of its kind to this day.
He was recently appointed an honorary instructor and fellow of the International Arts Academy, and awarded a Master’s for the Arts in Literature. He is recognized for his ability to convey images and thoughts in a rich and evocative way that tugs at something deep within the reader. Born in the village of Kolibari on the island of Crete in 1947, he moved with his family at a young age to Thessaloniki and then to Athens, where he received his Bachelor of Arts in Political Sciences from the Panteion University of Athens.
After graduation, he served in the armed forces for two years and emigrated to Vancouver in 1973, where he worked as an iron worker, train laborer, taxi driver, and stock broker, and studied English Literature at Simon Fraser University. He has written three novels and numerous collections of poetry, which are steadily being released as published works.
His articles, poems and short stories in both Greek and English have appeared in various magazines and newspapers in Canada, United States, Sweden, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, Australia, Jordan, Serbia and Greece. His poetry has been translated into Spanish, Romanian, Swedish, German, Hungarian, Ukrainian, French, Portuguese, Arabic, Turkish, Serbian, Russian, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, languages and has been published in book form or in magazines in various countries.
He now lives in White Rock, where he spends his time writing, gardening, traveling, and heading Libros Libertad, an unorthodox and independent publishing company which he founded in 2006 with the mission of publishing literary books.
His translation book “George Seferis-Collected Poems” was shortlisted for the Greek National Literary Awards the highest literary recognition of Greece. In September 2017 he was awarded the First Poetry Prize of the Mihai Eminescu International Poetry Festival, in Craiova, Romania.
AWARDS
~1st Poetry Prize, Academy of Mihai Eminescu, Craiova, Romania, 2017
~Distinguished Poet and Writer Award, City of Richmond, BC, 2014
~1st Poetry Prize, International Arts Academy for this translation of “Yannis Ritsos- Selected Poems”, 2014
~Winner of the Dr. Asha Bhargava Memorial Award, Writers International Network Canada, 2014
~“George Seferis-Collected Poems” translated by Manolis, shortlisted for the Greek National Literary Awards, translation category.
~1st Poetry Prize, International Arts Academy, for his translation of “George Seferis-Collected Poems”, 2013
~Master of the Arts in Literature, International Arts Academy, 2013
~1st Prize for poetry, 7th Volos poetry Competition, 2012
~Honorary instructor and fellow, International Arts Academy, 2012
~2nd Prize for short story, Interartia festival, 2012
~2nd Prize for Poetry, Interartia Festival, 2012
~2nd Prize for poetry, Interartia Festival, 2011
~3rd Prize for short stories, Interartia Festival, 2011
BOOKS by MANOLIS ALIGIZAKIS
THE MEDUSA GLANCE, poetry, Ekstasis Editions, spring 2017
THE SECOND ADVENT OF ZEUS, poetry, Ekstasis Editions, spring 2016
CHTHONIAN BODIES, paintings by Ken Kirkby and poems by Manolis Aligizakis, Libros Libertad, 2015
IMAGES OF ABSENCE, poetry, Ekstasis Editions, 2015
AUTUMN LEAVES, poetry, Ekstasis Editions, 2014
ÜBERMENSCH/ΥΠΕΡΑΝΘΡΩΠΟΣ, poetry, Ekstasis Editions, 2013
MYTHOGRAPHY, paintings and poems, Libros Libertad, 2012
NOSTOS AND ALGOS, poetry, Ekstasis Editions, 2012
VORTEX, poetry, Libros Libertad, 2011
THE CIRCLE, novel, Libros Libertad, 2011
VERNAL EQUINOX, poetry, Ekstasis Editions, 2011
OPERA BUFA, poetry, Libros Libertad, 2010
VESPERS, paintings and poems, Libros Libertad, 2010
TRIPTYCH, poetry, Ekstasis Editions, 2010
NUANCES, poetry, Ekstasis Editions, 2009
RENDITION, poetry, Libros Libertad, 2009
IMPULSES, poetry, Libros Libertad, 2009
TROGLODYTES, poetry, Libros Libertad, 2008
PETROS SPATHIS, novel, Libros Libertad, 2008
EL GRECO, poetry, Libros Libertad, 2007
PATH OF THORNS, poetry, Libros Libertad, 2006
FOOTPRINTS IN SANDSTONE, poetry, Authorhouse, Bloomington, Indiana, 2006
THE ORPHANS, poetry, Authorhouse, Bloomington, Indiana, 2005
TRANSLATIONS by MANOLIS
LIGHT IN THE PINENEEDLES, poetry by Karoly Fellinger, translated from English to Greek by Manolis Aligizakis, OSTRIA Publications, Athens, Greece, 2017
KARYOTAKIS--POLYDOURI, The Tragic Love Story, poetry translated by Manolis Aligizakis, Libros Libertad, 2016
HOURS OF THE STARS, poetry by Dimitris Liantinis, translated by Manolis Aligizakis, Libros Libertad, 2015
HEAR ME OUT, short stories, by Tzoutzi Mantzourani, translated by Manolis Aligizakis, Libros Libertad, 2015
CARESSING MYTHS, poetry by Dina Georgantopoulos, translated by Manolis Aligizakis, Libros libertad, 2015
IDOLATERS, a novel by Joanna Frangia, translated by Manolis Aligizakis, Libros Libertad, 2014
TASOS LIVADITIS-SELECTED POEMS, translated by Manolis Aligizakis, Libros Libertad, 2014
YANNIS RITSOS-SELECTED POEMS, translated by Manolis Aligizakis, Ekstasis Editions, 2013
CLOE AND ALEXANDRA-SELECTED POEMS, translated by Manolis Aligizakis, Libros Libertad, 2013
GEORGE SEFERIS-COLLECTED POEMS, translated by Manolis Aligizakis, Libros Libertad, 2012
YANNIS RITSOS-POEMS, translated by Manolis Aligizakis, Libros Libertad, 2010
CONSTANTINE P CAVAFY-POEMS, translated by Manolis Aligizakis, Libros Libertad, 2008
CAVAFY-SELECTED POEMS, translated by Manolis Aligizakis, Ekstasis Editions, 2011
BOOKS in OTHER LANGUAGES
THORNS OF THE ROSE, (Romanian), poetry by Manolis Aligizakis, translated in Romanian by Tatjana Betoska, Editura Europa, Craiova, Romania, 2017.
THE PRISONER, (Greek, PETROS SPATHIS in English) novel, OSTRIA Publications, Athens, Greece, 2017
BLUE IN THE WINDOW (Greek), poetry, OSTRIA Publications, Athens, Greece, 2017
FOGOLY, (Hungarian) novel by Manolis, translated in Hungarian by Karoly Csiby, Parnassus Publications, Bratislava, Hungary, 2017
SECOND ADVENT OF ZEUS, Greek, ENEKEN Publications, Thessaloniki, Greece, spring 2017
FUILLES D’AUTOMNE, poetry by Manolis Aligizakis, translated into French by Karoly Sandor Pallai, Editions Du Cygne, Paris, 2017
NABORI SEĆANJA, (Serbian) poetry by Manolis Aligizakis, translated into Serbian by Jolanka Kovacs, Zrenjanin, Serbia, 2016
FRUNZE DE TOAMNA, Poetry by Manolis, translated by Lucia Gorea, AB-ART,
Romania, 2016
MEMORIES, (Greek), poetry, Fildisi Edigions, Athens, Greece, 2016
SONGS OF THE ABSURD, (Greek), poetry, ENEKEN, Salonika, Greece, 2015
IMAGES OF ABSENCE, (Greek) poetry, Sexpirikon, Salonika, Greece, 2015
OSZI FALEVELEK, (Hungarian), poetry by Manolis Aligizakis, translated into Hungarian by Karoly Csiby, Gyp, Hungary, 2015
SVEST, (Serbian), poetry by Manolis Aligizakis, translated into Serbian by Jolanka Kovacs, Serbia, 2015
ESZMELET, (Hungarian), poetry by Manolis Aligizakis, translated into Hungarian by Karoly Csiby, AB-ART, Bratislava, Slovakia, 2014
HIERODULES, (Greek), poetry, Sexpirikon, Salonika, Greece, 2014
YPERANTHROPOS, (Greek), poetry, ENEKEN, Salonika, Greece, 2014
ÜBERMENSCH (German), poetry by Manolis Aligizakis, translated into German by Eniko Thiele Csekei, WINDROSE, Austria, 2014
NOSTOS SI ALGOS, (Romanian) poetry by Manolis Aligizakis, translated into Romanian by Lucia Gorea, DELLART, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, 2013
TOLMIRES ANATASEIS, (Greek) poetry, GAVRIILIDIS EDITIONS, Athens, Greece, 2013
FYLLOROES, (Greek) poetry, ENEKEN PUBLICATIONS, Salonika, Greece, 2013
EARINI ISIMERIA, (Greek) poetry, ENEKEN PUBLICATIONS, Salonika, Greece, 2011
STRATIS ROUKOUNAS, (Greek) novel, MAVRIDIS EDITIONS, Athens, Greece, 1981
LONGHAND BOOKS
EROTOKRITOS, by Vitsentzos Kornaros, (rare book-collectible), transcribed by Manolis Aligizakis, Libros Libertad, 2015
www.manolisaligizakis.com
www.authormanolis.wordpress.com
www.vequinox.wordpress.com
www.libroslibertad.com