Haris Vlavianos, Ph.D.
Haris Vlavianos was born in Rome in 1957. He studied Economics and Philosophy at the University of Bristol and Politics, History, and International Relations at the University of Oxford (Trinity College). His doctoral thesis, entitled Greece 1941-1949: From Resistance to Civil War, was published by Macmillan (1992).
He has published fourteen collections of poetry. His latest collection, Renaissance has just appeared in print, and it’s being translated into English, German and Italian. It will appear next year in the USA with an introduction by Margaret Atwood. His collection, Self-Portrait of White (2018) was awarded the National Poetry Prize, the Academy of Athens Poetry Prize, and the Critics’ Poetry Prize. He has also published numerous books of essays on poetry and culture. In addition, he has published an autobiographical novel, entitled, Blood into Water, which has appeared in Germany and Italy, as well as a History of Western Philosophy in 100 Haiku, which has appeared in England, France and Germany.
His semi-fictitious historical book, entitled, Hitler’s Secret Diary: Landsberg Prison November 1923–December 1924, was published in 2015 and is a study of Hitler’s personality through the recreation of a diary he kept in prison – now lost – after the failed “Beer-Hall Putsch”. The book was recently published in France and Holland and has received very positive reviews in many journals, such as the “Monde Diplomatique”. He has also written a dramatic monologue entitled, Now it’s my turn to speak, about his sister and her recent death from an overdose, after struggling for years with heroine addiction.
He has translated in book form the works of renowned poets such as: Walt Whitman, Ezra Pound, T. S. Eliot, Wallace Stevens, E. E. Cummings, John Ashbery, Anne Carson Zbigniew Herbert, Fernando Pessoa, Michael Longley, Adam Zagajewski, William Blake, Louise Glϋck and an Anthology of Love Poems. His translation of Eliot’s The Waste Land was published to great critical acclaim three years ago. His two latest books are a study of Emily Dickinson’s poetry, accompanied by a translation of 160 of her most important and memorable poems, and Anne Carson’s Autobiography of Red.
For thirty-two years he was the editor of “Poetry” and “Poetics”, two award-winning and renowned literary journals and Poetry Editor at “Patakis Publications”.
Many of his books have been translated and published in England, Germany, France, Italy, Sweden, Holland, Spain, Bulgaria, Rumania, and his poems have appeared in numerous European and American journals and anthologies.
He is Professor of History at the American College of Greece, teaching also various courses on Modern Greek Poetry. He teaches Creative Writing (Master’s Programme) at the Greek Open University.
For his contribution in promoting Italian literature and culture in Greece, the President of the Italian Republic bestowed upon him in February 2005 the title of “Cavaliere”, while the Dante Society of Italy awarded him the “Dante Prize” for his publications on the Divine Comedy.