The winners of the 2008 Khronicles Poetry Contest have been announced by the two judges, Marina Lagonaki – Kargaki, a graduate of the prestigious Regis College in Massachusetts and an avid reader, who selected the best English language poems, and Professor of Literature, Dimosthenis Karayiannis, who reviewed the Greek language poems.

In the English language category, first place honours went to Kay Farsaraki of Gournes for Fall Afternoon Beside the Sea, which appeared in last October's issue of the newspaper, and, in the Greek language category, the winner was When I Can Write a Poem in Greek by Jane Sharp of Vrahassi, which appeared in last  November's issue.

Amazingly, Ms. Sharp also won honourable mention for her English language poem, Sunrise (July, 2008), while our own columnist, Vasiliki Alexaki-Hronaki was awarded honourable mention in the Greek category for Journey to Ithaca (May, 2008).

"I enjoyed several of the poems thus it was quite difficult to reach a decision," Mrs. Lagonaki – Kargaki said.  "The poems I finally chose made a click on my mind from a certain memory or notion that I held.  A poetry judge cannot be objective when deciding on a poem's essence, only subjective."

Mr. Karayiannis, whose other activities include artistic consideration of books to be published, as well as serving as a magazine editor, said: "The poetic metre, the simplicity of the message, the poetic abstraction, the 'force' of the messages and their originality are just a few of the elements making up the first stack that led me to the particular choices.

"The second stack of elements includes the formal characteristics of each work, like the expression choices, the harmony of sounds in the words and the completeness of verse to name but a few."

The four winners will receive their awards at ceremonies later this month.

Because of the popularity of The Khronicles Poetry Contest, the feature will be renewed this year, with the first entry to appear in next month's edition.