Anastasis Vistonitis

Anastasis Vistonitis was born in Komotini in 1952. He made his literary debut in 1970 and has since published ten poetry collections, six prose books, four volumes of essays, and a book of translations of the Chinese poet Li Ho from the Tang dynasty. He has contributed numerous articles, essays, travel writings, and critical notes to newspapers such as "Kathimerini" and "Avgi," and magazines like "Anti," "Nea Poreia," "I Lexi," "Chartis," "Grammata kai Technes," "To Dentro," "Entefktirio," "Frear," and "Poetix," as well as prestigious international newspapers and magazines (Haaretz, Delo, Herald Tribune, Lettre International, Sodobnost, Translation, 2B, 91st Meridian, Sodobnost, Versopolis, Pangolin House, etc.). His poetry has been featured in international festivals and leading universities (Harvard, Columbia, Renmin and Peking University in Beijing, Baptist University in Hong Kong, where he was a guest of the international writers' program for a month, Humboldt University in Berlin, etc.). He was part of the core team that prepared Athens' bid for the 2004 Olympic Games (as editor and writer) and worked for a year with the Athens 2004 Organizing Committee. From 1983 to 1988, he lived in the USA (New York and Chicago), initially as a political editor and later as the editor-in-chief of the daily Greek-American newspaper "Proini." In 2015 and 2016, he resided in Central Europe as a correspondent for "To Vima." He is a member of the Society of Authors. From 1996 to 2001, he served on the board of the Federation of European Writers (European Writers' Congress) and from 2003 to 2008 as its vice president. His poems, essays, and prose have been translated into twenty languages. Five of his poetry books have been published in English, German, Macedonian, Slovenian, and Hebrew, and one prose book in Serbian.