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Cicada

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( 86 ratings, 18 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Cicada, by Phoebe Giannisi, is a lyrical exploration of metamorphosis and mortality, drawing inspiration from ancient Greek figures like Archilochus and Heraclitus. The poems blend mythic fluidity with vivid everyday moments — the sound of the sea, a distant mechanical crane, a photograph of John and Yoko — creating a profound meditation on transformation and existence.
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Format: Paperback / softback
$3199
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

Ideal for readers passionate about contemporary poetry, mythic and philosophical themes, and eco-poetics, as well as those interested in Greek literature and visionary poetic multimedia.

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The celebrated Greek poet Phoebe Giannisi explores connections between language, life, and the natural world

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

By one of Greece's foremost contemporary poets, Cicada is Phoebe Giannisi's second collection in English. The cicada signifies metamorphosis in this breathtaking, lyrical book, which evokes the spirits of Archilochus, Plato, Empedocles, and Heraclitus.

As the translator Brian Sneeden remarks: "The 'I' in Giannisi's poetry is never static, never a fixed point, but part of a process of rebodying the ambient." Yet, despite the fluid, mythic nature of Giannisi's poems, they are also exquisitely rooted in the everyday: the sea heard through a window, the murmur of a distant mechanical crane, a damp wind, a photo of John and Yoko.

Giannisi is a poet internationally known for her idiosyncratic eco-poetics, as well as her poetic multimedia works and performances, and most of all for her brilliant vision glowing at the borders of language, voice, place, and memory.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Praised for its dynamic linguistic and visual movement, Cicada is described by Publishers Weekly as poetry that transforms the ordinary into the magical. Heather Green of Poetry highlights its vibrant reflections on change and life’s transience. Critics commend Giannisi’s honesty, originality, and the skilled translation by Brian Sneeden, which brings immediacy and conviction to the work.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780811230230

Publisher: New Directions Publishing Corporation

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 01 March 2022

Country: United States

Imprint: New Directions Publishing Corporation

Contributors:

  • Translated by Brian Sneeden
  • Translated by Brian Sneeden

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 10.0mm

Width: 132.0mm

Height: 206.0mm

Weight: 111g

Pages: 128

About the Author

Phoebe Giannisi was born in Athens in 1964 and is the author of seven books of poetry, including Homerica (chosen by Anne Carson as a favorite book of 2017 in the Paris Review). She is professor of architecture and cultural studies at the University of Thessaly. Brian Sneeden is a poet, literary translator, and editor. His translations have received an NEA Literature Translation Fellowship, the World Literature Today Translation Award for Poetry, the Constantinides Memorial Translation Prize, a PEN/Heim Translation Grant, and other recognitions.

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