The 13th Thessalian Poetry Festival opens its gates from 25 to 29 August 2025, with a multi-dimensional programme that includes poetry readings by more than 70 Greek and international poets, live music, book presentations, a visual art exhibition curated by Antigoni Kapsali, and multimedia poetry performances.
Organized by the publishing house Thraka and the Department of Culture of the Municipality of Larissa, with the support and under the auspices of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture, the Region of Thessaly and the University of Thessaly, the five-day international poetry festival will take place in Larissa, Volos (Makrinitsa), Trikala, Karditsa (Fylakti) and Athens.
This year’s Festival has “Hope” as its central theme, the belief that something good will happen — a prediction we make with greater or lesser certainty, whether based on reason, feelings, intuition, or our circumstances. Since the beginning of poetry, hope was often at the core of it — whether it had been expressed, doubted, or negated; hope, as well as its absence, was always inseparable from the act of creation. Hope is an intrinsic part of every creative process, every individual, and every society. Sometimes we write or act from a place of hope; at other times, under the pressure of hopelessness. The existence of hope is the difference between survival and death — personally, societally, symbolically — moving us toward creation against all odds. But the lack of hope, too, can be a source of creation, urging us to engage in the creative process without inhibition.
Two pre-festival events will be held on 25 August — one in Athens and one in Volos. Co-organized with the Poets’ Circle, the first pre-festival event with take place in Zatopek bookstore in Athens. Moderated by Dimitris Angelis, it includes poetry readings by Maria Koulouri, Miguel Rodriguez Monteavaro (Spain), Giorgos Kentrotis, Giorgos-Ikarios Babasakis and John Tripoulas (USA/Greece) and a book presentation, that is When I Cease to Be a Flower, I Become a Nuisance by Yolanda Castaño, supported by the Cervantes Institute in Athens and the Embassy of Spain in Greece.
The second pre-festival event will take place at Art Café in Makrinitsa, Volos. Moderated by Lina Fytili, the event will include a welcome address by the Festival’s Director, Thanos Gogos, poetry readings by Ivana Maksić (Serbia), Anthi Drillia, Lina Fytili, Dragica-Anta Djipalo Patsea (Greece/Serbia), Phoebe Giannisi, Anna Emmanouil, Viktoria Tsiokou, Mina Patrinou, Aristotelis Pittaris, Martin Figura (UK), Eleni Kosma, Elena Psaralidou, Dimitris Voulgaris, Elisavet Arseniou, Eirini Vogiatzi, Višnja Begović (Serbia), Georgia Tsoukalohoriti, Charitini Malissova, Marios Chatziprokopiou, Alexios Mainas, as well as live music by Marina Voloudaki and Spyridonas.
The festival’s Opening Day will take place on 26 August in Larissa, at the Garden of the Diachronic Museum. Moderated by Chryssa Voulgaraki, the event will include the opening ceremony with the respective welcome speeches, as well as the opening of the art exhibition “Hopeless Romantic / False Hopes: Approaching Reality through Delusion”, curated by Antigoni Kapsali. The exhibition explores the persistence of hope as an attitude towards life in times of collective crisis and existential uncertainty. Through artistic practices that balance between the imaginary and the ironic, the participating artists – Artemis Diamanti, Stefanos Giaremis, Karl Grümpe & Rene P.G., Sofia Kyriakou, Pythagoras Kotsoulas, Myrto Sakka, Eleni Sarli, Efstathia Savvidou and Grigoria Vryttia – address the contemporary need for utopian narratives, even when reality appears relentless and irreversible.
During the day, there will also take place the Makis Lachanas Award Ceremony, with the Award for Lifetime Contribution to Greek Poetry presented to Giorgos Ch. Theocharis, and the Thraka Award Ceremony for Best Unpublished Poetry Collection, presented by Sotiris Pastakas. There will also take place poetry readings by Alicia E. Stallings (USA/Greece), Martin Figura (UK), Yolanda Castaño (Spain), Thanos Gogos, Zoë Skoulding (Wales), Aristea Tsantzou, Marianne Catzaras (Tunisia), Dimitris Angelis, as well as live music with the award-winning choir InDonnation, conducted by Dimitris Ktistakis with Frosso Ktistaki on the piano.
On 27 August, the programme continues with two parallel events — one in Fylakti, Karditsa, and another in Larissa. During the “Christos Diamantis” Day, which will take place in Karditsa, there will take place welcome speeches by the Director’s Festival Thanos Gogos, Sissy Papathanassiou, Head of Literature at the Ministry of Culture and Panagiotis Nanos, Mayor of Lake Plastiras, as well as poetry readings by Kleopatra Lyberi, Rania Orfanakou, Panagiotis Nanos, Ilias Bartziokas, Vicky Triantafyllou, Alexandros Dediliaris, Georgia Giota, Vaggelis Briannas, Afroditi Tsioli, Ilias Diamantis, Alicia Stallings (USA/Greece), Marija Dejanović (Croatia/Greece), Angelos Bertos, Catrin Menai (Wales), Eirini Karagiannidou and Jenny Fountea. The event will be moderated by Christos Koltsidas with live music by Apostolos Gougoulakis.
During the same day in Larissa, there will also take place poetry readings by Ilias Kourkoutas, Chrysa Mastorodimou, Petros Skythiotis, Athanasios Tzikas, Chrysa Alexiou, Petros Isaakidis, Giannis Zarampoukas, Isidora Morosou, Panagiota Tsianogianni, Argyris Koskoros, Th.P. Zafeiriou, Thanasis Kritsiniotis, Dimitris P. Kraniotis, Lambros Anagnostopoulos and Kostis Papazak, as well as book presentations, that is Constructing the Witch by Helen Ivory (trans. by Nikolas Koutsodontis, Katerina Iliopoulou), and Bolsheviks Don’t Wear Nightgowns by Ivana Maksić (trans. by Christos Koltsidas). The books will be presented by Nikolas Koutsodontis, while poets will read poems in their languages and the actress Chryssoula Christou will read the Greek translations. The event is moderated by Eleni Anastasopoulou with live music by Vaggelis Boundouloulis (guitar).
On 28 August, the festival moves to Trikala, at the Theatre on the River Lithaios, and will include poetry readings by Kostas Kanavouris, Georgia Koloveloni, Paraskevi Alexi, Apostolos Gougoulakis, Eleni Alexiou, Miguel Rodriguez Monteavaro (Spain), Helen Ivory (UK), Yolanda Castaño (Spain), Thomas Tsalapatis, Marianne Catzaras (Tunisia), Ilias Kefalas, Stavros Zafeiriou, Zita Iszó (Hungary/Czechia) and Socrates Kabouropoulos. The event will be moderated by Nikolas Koutsodontis.
This year, the festival also hosts a special feature titled “Creative Europe on tour… in Thessaly”, taking place on 27 and 28 August. Head of the EU Department and the Creative Europe Desk Greece, Hellenic Ministry of Culture, Eirini Komninou, will take part in a series of events in Larissa, Karditsa (Lake Plastiras), and Trikala, focusing on creativity, sustainability, and innovation in culture. This programme is co-organised with Creative Europe Desk Greece.
The Closing Day will be celebrated on 29 August, again in Larissa, at the Municipal Art Gallery – G.I. Katsigras Museum. Following the respective welcome speeches, there will take place a poetry marathon with the participation of Eleni Anastasopoulou, Lambros Papadimas, Pavlos Kastanaras, Valia Tsilimeni, Giorgos Saratsis, Ioanna Giannakopoulou, Tonia Tsaroucha, Nikolas Koutsodontis, Maria Resta, Beatrice (Betty) Saias-Magrizou, Tasoula Tsilimeni, Sotiris Pastakas, Marija Dejanović (Croatia/Greece), Christos Koltsidas, Zita Iszó (Hungary/Czechia), as well as the Multimedia Poetry Performance “Coastal Echoes: Naming the World Again” by Zoë Skoulding & Catrin Menai (Wales), organized by Literature Across Frontiers and supported by Wales Arts International.
This multimedia poetry performance by Catrin Menai and Zoë Skoulding, presented in Welsh and English, explores the meeting points between land and sea, between languages, and between visible and invisible environments, looking for hope as it extends forms of community to the non-human. Supported by Wales Arts International, the performance is part of Coastal Echoes, an ongoing project organised by Literature Across Frontiers, aiming to explore shared concerns about the destruction of marine environments and the impact of climate change on coastal regions.
The festival is presented in collaboration with the Diachronic Museum of Larissa, the Municipal Art Gallery of Larissa – G.I. Katsigras Museum, the P.Ar.Co – By the River Gallery, and the Circle of Poets. It is also supported by the Municipality of Trikala, the Municipality of Lake Plastiras, the Cervantes Institute of Athens, the Embassy of Spain in Greece, Literature Across Frontiers, Wales Arts International, and the French Institute of Larissa. Local sponsors include the Ermís Property Management Office and Kaltsas Bookstore. Media sponsors are ERT3, ERT Larissa, ERT Volos, and Bookpress.gr.
A.R.
TAGS: FESTIVALS | LITERATURE & BOOKS | READING GREECE
