Last night at 6.30 pm, Cypriot poet Kyriakos Charalambides had a bilingual poetry reading at Barnard in the Ella Weed Room. I know, you’ve probably had enough of my poetry blog posts, but Charalambides is pretty amazing. He’s probably the most famous Cypriot poet.

The reading was sponsored by the Program in Hellenic Studies at Columbia University, the Onassis Public Benefit Foundation, and the Mellon Foundation (as part of the “Translation Across the Disciplines” Initiatives at Barnard College).  Charalambides’s translator, Martin McKinsey was there as well to read (some) of the poems in English.

Charalamnides had some great poems and some even greater lines: Do myths poison/ the truth of history or not?/ There is no other way to learn.

The reading itself was beautiful. The rhythm of Charalambides’s poems was mesmerizing and I was entranced completely. Even though I didn’t know enough Greek to understand the poems, I could still appreciate their lyrical beauty.

The reading would probably have been more effective though if McKinsey read the English version of each of Charalambides’s poems and not just some of them. I know the majority of the audience spoke Greek, but it still would have been helpful.

The Ella Weed room was stunning as usual with its green marble fireplace. That room is very conducive to poetry readings. The food was delicious. I had the most amazing pita vegetable sandwich with hummus ever. Period. There was also a nice selection of red and white wines.

The audience was almost entirely adults and not students of Barnard or Columbia. This isn’t a phenomena specific to this reading. Students of the university are so wrapped up in their studies that they don’t take time to appreciate the wonderful opportunities our schools have to offer outside the classroom. I implore my fellow students to take advantage of being at one of the nation’s most prestigious universities. Isn’t that why you came here?