Manolis (Emmanuel Aligizakis) is a Greek-Canadian poet and author. He was recently appointed an honorary instructor and fellow of the International Arts Academy, and awarded a Master’s for the Arts in Literature. He is recognized for his ability to convey images and thoughts in a rich and evocative way that tugs at something deep within the reader. Born in the village of Kolibari on the island of Crete in 1947, he moved with his family at a young age to Thessaloniki and then to Athens, where he received his Bachelor of Arts in Political Sciences from the Panteion University of Athens. After graduation, he served in the armed forces for two years and emigrated to Vancouver in 1973, where he worked as an iron worker, train labourer, taxi driver, and stock broker, and studied English Literature at Simon Fraser University. He has written three novels and numerous collections of poetry, which are steadily being released as published works. His articles, poems and short stories in both Greek and English have appeared in various magazines and newspapers in Canada, United States, Sweden, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, Australia, and Greece. He now lives in White Rock, where he spends his time writing, gardening, traveling, and heading Libros Libertad, an unorthodox and independent publishing company which he founded in 2006 with the mission of publishing literary books.
Distinguished Awards
Books by Manolis
Ubermensch/Υπεράνθρωπος, poetry, Ekstasis Editions, 2013
Mythography, paintings and poetry, Libros Libertad, 2012
Nostos and Algos, poetry, Ekstasis Editions, 2012
Vortex, poetry, Libros Libertad, 2011
The Circle, novel, Libros Libertad, 2011
Vernal Equinox, poetry, Ekstasis Editions, 2011
Opera Bufa, poetry, Libros Libertad, 2010
Vespers, poetry by Manolis paintings by Ken Kirkby, Libros Libertad, 2010
Triptych, poetry, Ekstasis Editions, 2010
Nuances, poetry, Ekstasis Editions, 2009
Rendition, poetry, Libros Libertad, 2009
Impulses, poetry, Libros Libertad, 2009
Troglodytes, poetry, Libros Libertad, 2008
Petros Spathis, novel, Libros Libertad, 2008
El Greco, poetry, Libros Libertad, 2007
Path of Thorns, poetry, Libros Libertad, 2006
Footprints in Sandstone, poetry, Authorhouse, Bloomington, Indiana, 2006
The Orphans - an Anthology, poetry, Authorhouse, Bloomington, Indiana, 2005
Translations by Manolis
Yannis Ritsos-Selected Poems, Ekstasis Editions, 2013
Cloe and Alexandra-Selected Poems, Libros Libertad, 2013
George Seferis-Collected Poems, Libros Libertad, 2012
Yannis Ritsos-Poems, Libros Libertad, 2010
Constantine P. Cafavy - Poems, Libros Libertad, 2008
Cavafy-Selected Poems, Ekstasis Editions, 2011
Books in other languages
Nostos si Algos, (Romanian) poetry, DELLART, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, 2013
Tolmires Anatasis, (Greek) poetry, GAVRIILIDIS EDITIONS, Athens, Greece, 2013
Filloroes, (Greek ) poetry, ENEKEN PUBLICATIONS, Thessaloniki, Greece, 2013
Earini Isimeria, (Greek) poetry, ENEKEN PUBLICATIONS, Thessaloniki, Greece, 2011
Stratis o Roukounas, (Greek) novel, MAVRIDIS EDITIONS, Athens, Greece, 1981
Magazines
Canadian Fiction Magazine—Victoria, BC
Pacific Rim Review of Books—Victoria, BC
Canadian Poetry Review—Victoria, BC
Monday Poem, Leaf Press-Lantzville, BC
The Broadkill Review, Milton, Delaware
Ekeken, Thessaloniki, Greece
Envolimon, Beotia, Greece
Annual Literary Review, Athens, Greece
Stigmes, Crete, Greece
Apodimi Krites, Crete, Greece
Patris, Crete, Greece
Nyxta-Mera, Chania, Greece
Wallflowers, Thessaloniki, Greece
Diasporic Literature Spot, Melbourne, Australia
Black Sheep Dances, California, USA
Diasporic Literature Magazine, Melbourne, Australia
Spotlight on the Arts, Surrey, BC
Barnwood, International Poetry Magazine, Seattle, USA
Unrorean, University of Maine, Farmington, Maine, USA
Vakhikon, Athens, Greece
Paremvasi, Kozani, Greece
Szoros Ko, Bratislava, Slovakia
Mediterranean Poetry, Sweden
Apostaktirio, Athens, Greece
Life and Art, Athens, Greece
Logos and Images, Athens, Greece
Contemporary Writers and Thinkers, Athens, Greece
Palinodiae, Athens, Greece
Royal City Poet’s Anthology, 2013, New Westminster, BC, Canada
To parathyro, Paris, France
ΑΠΟΛΟΓΙΣΜΟΣ
Δυο στήλες χαρακώστε
για τις ζημιές της μέρας τούτης
και τα κέρδη της.
Τα σοβαρά νοήματα
τις φωτεινές σας σκέψεις, τα διαβάσματα
τ’ από τη μια γραμμή στην άλλη
άτεγκτα περάσματα
στη στήλη των κερδών να σημειώσετε.
ΓΙΑ ΣΕΝΑ
Δεν είχε καιρό — πού ν’ ακούσει; Ψάχνοντας για το ψωμί του
δεν είδε πως μεγάλωνε το στάχυ γαργαλώντας τ’ αυτί του ήλιου,
δεν είδε το ξανθό μουστακάκι του καλοκαιριού,
δεν είδε που μεγάλωσε ο ίδιος.
Time will come when things will change
remember this, Maria
do you remember that game during the intermission
when we run holding the baton
—don’t look at me — don’t cry. You are the hope
listen, time will come
when children will select their parents
they won’t be born at random
[tabgroup]
[tab title=”English”]
EROTIC IDOL
Now the secret hour of our voice
empties the skies and
the morning bread
into our hands
now we forget the crosses
and the serene courtyard
and the decree
of the Delphic Cybil
[tabgroup]
[tab title=”Second Advent of Zeus”]
echo of a gallop
sang in faraway lands
sound of a comma
I heard
the exclamation
of a woman’s nipple
an exhausted tree stopped
its rustle and I existed
in vague limbo
homophonic crickets spoke of duty
foggy installment of guilt
I carried into this world from
the serenity of the blessed souls
an unbroken link
to my ancestors beauty
[tabgroup]
[tab title=”Loss”]
The years I risked
under the spell of the moon
for that lone kiss
March daffodils
autumn chrysanthemums
why have you bloomed?
[tabgroup]
[tab title=”Echo”]
She opened her window.
Powerful feminine
exhilarating gesture
that shook me
memory rekindled
paradisiacal kisses and
[tabgroup]
[tab title=”English”]
Breeze laughed amid
his limping footsteps
nature’s unforgiving mistake
struggled out of the sea
eyes full of kindness
irises of a saint
a brave man’s graceful stature
in his unbalanced steps
the balance of the Universe
searched for justice
pain of the different
in vain danced
in the expression of the man
who limped out of the light waves
