The Greek cultural pulse of Greece does not only beat in Athens.
The Poetry Office and the Culture Book, the founder and soul of which is the poet Antonis Skiathas, are based in Patras.
The Poetry Office and Culture Book award the Jean Moreas International Poetry Prizes, which are now a universally recognized institution nationwide and internationally. They serve poetry by giving the opportunity to many young and emerging poets to present their work, forming a poetic landscape of high aesthetic, literary and cultural value.
At the same time, the Poetry Office also honors personalities who serve the art of speech with their entire work. The Jean Moreas Grand Prize, the Kostis Palamas Prize, the Thanasis Nakas Prize, as well as the Grand Prize to a Hellenist, who with their work promote Greek Literature abroad, are also awarded.
The Jean Moreas Awards were instituted by the Poetry Office and are awarded every year with the aim of honoring the contemporary poetic production of our country and promoting poetic art to the reading public. The awards are given both to the best poetry collection by a novice poet and to the best poetry collection by a debutant poet.
Evaluating the poetic work and the general participation in Greek literature of a poet or a poetess, it awards the Jean Moreas prize for their entire work. The awards are recognized by the literary community of our country and are the only ones outside of Athens at this level.
Every year, the jury is made up of personalities of the country's letters, university professors, poets and literary critics. This year's event was attended by:
Gina Kalogirou, professor of philology at the National Kapodistrian University of Athens.
Anna Marina Katsigianni, assistant professor of philology at the University of Patras.
Dioni Dimitriadou, philologist, literary critic.
Anna Afentoulidou, philologist, literary critic.
Mina Petropoulou, philologist, Literature critic.
Vangelis Tasiopoulos, poet, secretary of the Society of Writers of Thessaloniki.
Antonis D. Skiathas, poet and literary critic, chairman of the Poetry Office.
This year's event took place in the packed auditorium of the archaeological museum of Patras, in co-organization with the Region of Western Greece, the Patronage of the "Kostis Palamas" House of Letters, the support of the newspaper Peloponnese, of the Hellenic Circle of London Bibliophiles, the Association of Philologists of the Patras Region and the Polyphonic Choir of Patras, which also arranged the evening's music.
The Award for the entire project and the overall contribution to Greek letters abroad was awarded to the Hellenist-translator Gonda Van Steen.
The special "Kostis Palamas" Award was awarded to the professor of the National Kapodistrian University of Athens, Gerasimos G. Zora.
The special "Thanasis Nakas" Award was awarded to the essayist-literary critic Simeon G. Stamboulos.
The Award for the entire work and overall contribution to Greek letters was awarded to the poet, essayist-literary critic Dimitris Daskalopoulos.
The Award for the "best poetry collection of the year" was awarded to the poet Ilias Kefalas, for the collection scribe of the natural epic / Thrace Publications, 2021.
The "debut poet" Award was awarded to Nikolaos Kichem Kotsabougioukis for the poetry collection In brief / AO Publications, 2021, and Marina Michael Christakis for the poetry collection Armenopetra / Mandragoras Publications, 2022.
