Greek poets translate and recite poems by Kenneth Rexroth on the occasion of the 120th anniversary of his birth, in an evening dedicated to his work
The Hellenic American Union and "Words (can) do it" dedicate this year’s event celebrating American poetry for “Poetry Month” to Kenneth Rexroth. Rexroth was born in 1905 in South Bend, Indiana (USA) and died in 1982 in Santa Barbara, California. He studied Fine Arts without ever receiving a degree and moved to San Francisco in 1927. From his first poetry collection in 1940, In What Hour, his interest in ecology and politics was evident. During his life, he published 19 more poetry books, as well as essays and prose, received numerous awards, and taught at universities. Today, he is perhaps best known for his outstanding translations of poems from Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, and French, which inspired many generations of English-speaking poets.
Poems by Kenneth Rexroth are translated and read by Orfeas Apergis, Haris Garouniatis, Antonia Gounaropoulou, Giannis Doukas, Lenia Zafeiropoulou, Katerina Iliopoulou, Lefteris Zacharioudakis, Panagiotis Ioannidis, Lena Kallergi, Aspasia Lambrinidou, Stergios Mitas, and Christiana Mygdali. The original poems are read by Ian Robertson.
"Words (can) do it" has previously presented tributes to major figures of American poetry, including Emily Dickinson, William Carlos Williams, Elizabeth Bishop, Robert Duncan, Marianne Moore, Ezra Pound, Robert Frost, Bill Knott, Denise Levertov, and Charles Simic.