The English School Poetry Project
Cypriot-Canadian poet, writer and scholar Stephanos Constantinides visited our school on Monday, October 18 and was interviewed by Dr Eva Polyviou and Year 7 students Athena Christodoulides and Anna Petrides.
Mr Constantinides spoke about his early years in Pentalia, a small village in Paphos. His village, his years as a student in Athens and Paris and Canada, where he has lived for more than 40 years. has been his constant point of reference in his literary work
He shared his thoughts about history, poetry, and art with the students and answered questions about language and cultural identity.
This is the first of a series of interviews with poets and artists planned by the newly established English School Poetry Project and it will be published in a local literary journal shortly.
Stephanos Constantinides Biography
Education
Stephanos Constantinides was educated at the University of Athens (BA in History and Literature), then in Paris at the Sorbonne. At the Sorbonne, he studied Thucydides with famous scholar Jacqueline de Romilly, with whom he obtained a master's degree. In 1974 he obtained a PhD in Political Sociology from the University of Paris I and, in 1976, a PhD in Political Science from Panthéon-Assas University.
Career
He taught at Laval University, the University of Montreal and the University of Quebec at Montreal.
He published several volumes including Les Grecs du Québec and dozens of articles. He also edited several volumes in the areas of Sociology, History and Political Science. His particular areas of interest include the European Union, Greece, Turkey, Cyprus and the Greek diaspora.
He was appointed Chairman of the Advisory Council on Cultural Communities and Immigration and Member of the Committee on the Implementation of the Action Plan of the Government of Quebec for Cultural Communities (CIPACC). He was also active in various community organizations. He is the Director of the Centre for Hellenic Studies and Research Canada - KEEK and Academic Journal 'Hellenic Studies'.
He has published in three languages: French, Greek and English. He wrote poetry in Greek. 'Anthumes', a poetry collection, was translated by Jacques Bouchard, Professor of Modern Greek Studies at the University of Montreal, with an introduction-analysis and explanatory notes. He is currently collaborating with the University of Crete on an education project on Greek Language and Civilization in the Hellenic Diaspora. Also, he is a columnist in the leading Greek newspaper in Cyprus, Phileleftheros.