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The summer photography competition we organised on Instagram came to an end today, and your entries filled us with positivity.We saw photos of our books accompanying you in your daily lives, helping you relax and influencing you in their own way, especially at times when you’re seeking personal calm and peace, and we were delighted!Below are the photos of the 10 lucky winners that will take you on a journey in their own way. Thank you for taking part.  Photo: mellymusic83 Photo: ioatsag Photo: Agape Photo: Vasiliki Papadopoulou Photo: Tatiana Liani Photo: i.mast Photo: kritsinaki Photo: stella_moutro Photo: andreas_kyr7 Photo: roadartist

Zisimos Lorentzatos, son of the philologist and professor Panagiotis Lorentzatos, was born on this day, 25 June 1915, in Athens. He was involved in critical study, translation and poetry. He was a man of a particularly low profile, whose personality left a profound intellectual mark on Greek literature, far surpassing his own era.To mark the centenary of his birth, N.D. Triantafyllopoulos has dedicated, as a token of affection, 16 texts to Zisimos Lorentzatos, previously published in the journals Akti (Nicosia), Anti, Nea Estia and Poiesis. This is the book *For Zissimos Lorentzatos. One Hundred Years Since His Birth*, published a few months ago by Ikaros Publications.A summary of his works published by Ikaros: Translations: (1st edition: 2014) This volume brings together the published poetic translations of Zisimos Lorentzatos. These are translations of works by: Ezra Pound, W. Blake, Friedrich Hölderlin, W.B. Yeats, Eugenio Montale, Wisława Szymborska and W.H. Auden – poets whom Lorentzatos admired for their personality, originality and the depth of their spirituality. In addition to the poems, the book includes introductory notes by Zisimos Lorentzatos and an appendix presenting Edgar Allan Poe’s essays ‘The Philosophy of Composition’, The Poetic Principle and Eureka, as well as a prose translation of Gerard Manley Hopkins’s poem, Felix Randal, which is an excerpt from Z. Lorentzatos’s study A Tribute to E.A. Blair (George Orwell).The translator’s personal copies were used in the preparation of this edition.A quatrain by Hölderlin (1st edition: 2006) The book’s wonderful, short text was read as a speech at the Macedonian Artistic Society ‘The Art’ in Thessaloniki in 1967. It was published by Ikaros in 2006 with a handwritten postscript by the author. The quatrain to which the text refers is called ‘The Unforgivable’ and reads as follows:To forget friends, to mock the craftsman, And to dismiss the deepest mind as small and insignificant, God forgives it – just do not disturb The peace of your loved ones. Lorenzatos writes characteristically of the poem: ‘I have the preliminary impression that we must lift quite a few veils before we reach the inner sanctum; the place to which this tiny poem ultimately seeks to lead us by the hand. I have always had the same impression. Over the years, I have come to realise that Hölderlin’s ‘The Unforgiven’ is an unexpected poem, like all true poems...”.Poems (1st edition: 2006) Poems is the collected edition of the poems of Zisimos Lorentzatos. The book includes the collections: Small Syrtis, Alphabet and Collection. A Detailed Study of Cavafy (1st edition: 1977) Texts by Zisimos Lorentzatos on C.P. Cavafy. As he himself has said, regarding his essays on the Alexandrian poet and also on D. Solomos: ‘those who set out on the adventure of art must know that “the history of beauty has been completed”, it does not wait for those who will rescue it—and what its devotees always do is nothing but a struggle to rediscover what was lost, rediscovered, and lost again under favourable or adverse circumstances, a struggle that is difficult and unceasing”. Greek Critical Thought (1st edition: 1976)An anthology by Z. Lorentzatos which marked a significant milestone for its time. Among other things, it brings together texts on Solomos, Palamas, Dragoumis and Seferis.Two Texts (1st edition: 1972) The book includes the texts: Paul Valéry and the Limits of Logic, and Wittgenstein’s ‘Tractatus’ and ‘He who does not know the oracle...’, with a foreword by the author.

 A very special event for Kiki Dimoula took place in Sweden last week (1 June): in the packed hall of the National Library of Stockholm, the poetry anthology by the poet and academic, entitled I kroppens främmande land (In the Foreign Land of the Body), published by Ellerströms, was presented. The anthology comprises 90 poems in Swedish, translated by Jan Henrik Swahn and Rea Ann-Margaret Mellberg, and spans all of Kiki Dimoula’s poetry collections. Photograph: Spyros Vangelakis The presentation of the anthology was organised by the National Library of Stockholm, the Greek Embassy and Ellerströms Publishers. The popular Swedish actress Stina Ekblad read poems by Kiki Dimoula from the new edition, and Elsi Dimoula, the author’s daughter, read two of her poems in Greek. Pianist Johan Sandback provided musical accompaniment for the event.Among those present at the launch were the Greek Ambassador to Sweden, Dimitrios Touloupas, and the translator of Kiki Dimoula’s anthology of poems into English, Cecil Inglesis-Mariello. Photo: Spyros Vangelakis Photo: Spyros Vangelakis Photo: Spyros VangelakisIt is worth noting that Swedish Radio decided in the autumn to broadcast one poem by Kiki Dimoula each week for six weeks, read by Stina Ekblad, a fact that demonstrates the significant recognition of the poet’s work in the Scandinavian country, and fills us with optimism and pride.

The essay *With My Best Wishes: Thoughts on Kindness* is George Saunders’ speech at the Syracuse University graduation ceremony in 2013. Three months after it was delivered, it was published by the New York Times, and subsequently shared and republished across the internet over a million times. It is the best gift for any graduate, a book capable of inspiring every young person, particularly at this significant personal moment when they need to believe in their own strengths and perhaps redefine their outlook on life. He states at the beginning of his speech: ‘For centuries now, a tradition has been developing for this kind of lecture: some old codger, whose best years are behind him, and who has made a whole host of terrible mistakes in the course of his life (that’s me), offers moving advice to a group of brilliant, energetic young people, bursting with life, and who have their best years ahead of them (that is you). I intend to honour this tradition.” George Saunders’ speech, author of the short story collection ‘December 10th’ (Ikaros Publications, 2015), a text that is both powerful and wise, describes kindness as a fundamental philosophy of life, as the ultimate goal for fulfilment in our lives, far removed from our natural tendency to act self-centrically.Above all, however, he reminds us that good literature and art in general can ‘awaken’ us with simple and true words. ‘For goodness, it seems, is a tough business — it begins with smiles and sweetness and expands to encompass... Yes, indeed, everything, the sky with its stars.’ Graduating from university is a significant milestone in people’s lives, as it is the moment when they are called upon to take stock of their strengths, goals and resources. After all, the knowledge students acquire during their studies does not guarantee their success but serves as a means to pursue the virtues of life, such as kindness and generosity.‘The sweetest people, as they grow older, become less selfish and more loving.’ Read an excerpt from the book here.