Alexandros Isaris

Alexandros Isaris is an author, translator, painter, graphic designer, and photographer. He was born in Serres in 1941 and studied architecture at the Universities of Graz and Thessaloniki. From 1962 to 1978, he lived in Thessaloniki. Over the years, he has published essays, prose, poems, and translations in numerous literary magazines. For eight years, he was responsible for the Greek editorial team of the magazine "Ausblicke." His first poetry collection, "Sea Friends Club - The Balancer," earned him the Maria Ralli Award (1977). In 1982, he hosted a series of broadcasts on the Third Program of ERT. In 1985, he participated in the Greek Poetry Week in Amsterdam and Groningen. In 1986, he represented Greece at the theater festival in Mülheim, Germany. In 1990, he visited significant cultural centers in Germany, invited by the Goethe Institute. He spent time in Vienna in 1990, 1992, 1994, and 1999 as a guest of the Austrian Literary Society. In 1997, he became a founding member of the Thomas Bernhard Society. He has translated over thirty books and has been honored with several awards: the Maria Ralli Award (1977), the State Translation Award for Thomas Bernhard's "Concrete" (1977), and two EKEMEL awards for Ludwig Tieck's "The Blonde Eckbert - The Runenberg" (2007) and Rainer Maria Rilke's "Letters to a Young Poet" (2011). In 2014, he received the Public Award for his book "I, a Stranger." He has showcased his paintings in eight solo and twelve group exhibitions. In October 2017, he held his first solo photography exhibition titled "Images of a Life." Since 1978, he has been living in Athens. (photo: Nikos Koulamas)