Austerity Measures: The New Greek Poetry [Paperback]

A remarkable collection of poetic voices from contemporary Greece,Austerity Measuresis a one-of-a-kind window into the creative energy that has arisen from the country's decade of crisis and a glimpse into what it is like to be Greek today.

The 2008 debt crisis shook Greece to the core and went on to shake the world. More recently, Greece has become one of the main channels into Europe for refugees from poverty and war. Greece stands at the center of today’s most intractable conflicts, and this situation has led to a truly extraordinary efflorescence of innovative and powerfully moving Greek poetry. Karen Van Dyck’s wide-ranging bilingual anthology—which covers the whole contemporary Greek poetry scene, from literary poets to poets of the spoken word to poets online, and more—offers an unequaled sampling of some of the richest and most exciting poetry of our time. The poets in [Austerity Measures] are young, most of them under forty, but they inherit a rich Greek tradition of writers who seize a position in public discourse….Poets may need to find new ways to remain attuned to enormous changes that no one can foresee completely.Austerity Measuresoffers some clues as to what might be carried forward and what might be left behind.” —David Wallace,The New YorkerPage-Turner

Karen Van Dyck’sAusterity Measuresis a timely trove of new Greek voices that reverberates with urgency and authority, girded with hard-earned truth and a deep seeing necessary for our twenty-first century. Here’s a language that goes for the gut and the heart, an earthy sonority. It holds us accountable for what we witness and feel in a time of globalism. This marvelous compendium of lived imagery speaks freely. —Yusef Komunyakaa

Required reading for poetry fans and those interested in the toll of the economic crisis on thl“n