The Arts - Cyprus - page 505

Literature
Cyprus has produced a sprinkling of literary illuminati, and the literature scene is actively
promoted and encouraged in both the Republic and Northern Cyprus.
Home-grown literary talent of the 20th century includes Loukis Akritas (1932−65), who
made his mark mainly in Greece as a journalist and writer, and later championed the cause
of Cypriot independence through letters rather than violence. His works include novels,
plays, short stories and essays.
Theodosis Pierides (1908−67), who wrote actively from 1928 onwards, is one of Cyprus'
national and most respected poets. His Cypriot Symphony is considered to be the 'finest,
most powerful epic written by a Greek poet about Cyprus', according to contemporary and
fellow poet Tefkros Anthias (1903−68). Anthias himself was excommunicated by the
Orthodox Church and internally exiled by the British administration in 1931 for his poetry
collection The Second Coming . He was arrested during the liberation struggle of 1955−59
and imprisoned. While in prison he wrote a collection of poems called The Diary of the
CDP, which was published in 1956.
The North supports a small but healthy literary scene with more than 30 'name' person-
ages. Nese Yasin (1959−) is a writer, journalist and poet, and a founding member of a
movement known as the '74 Generation Poetry Movement. This was a post-division liter-
ary wave of writers that sought inspiration from the climate generated after Cyprus was di-
vided. Yasin's poems have been translated and published in magazines, newspapers, antho-
logies and topics in Cyprus, Turkey, Greece, Yugoslavia, Hungary, the Netherlands, Ger-
many and the UK.