Interviewing a Cypriot poet

1. Mr Antonis Gavriel Papa is a Cypriot writer and a poet.
We had a very interesting conversation with him about a month ago.
Q. Tell us something about yourself. Let’s start from where you come from.
A. Well my full name is Antonis Gavriel Papas and I was born on the 8th
of January 1947 at the
village of Kiti. It is a very old settlement dated back to ancient years. There are historical
evidence that Kiti (or Kition) existed since 1,300 B.C.
Q. Tell us about your education, did you have the chance to go to a college or university back in
those years?
A. Well, to be honest back in the 60s it was very
difficult for a Cypriot to study at a University. My
parents would like to see me a teacher or a professor,
but after my graduation from the Pancyprian High
school of Larnaca and after my military service I got a
job at the local Cooperative Bank (Synergatiki Kitiou).
You see, I didn’t want my parents to spend their limited
money for my studies.
Q. Can you tell us more about you? Are you married?
A. Yes, I am married with Stavroula Evripidou, she is
from Stroumbi, a village of Paphos District. We have
three kids, a son and two twin girls!
Q. Do you consider yourself as a professional writer?
A. No, I am not a professional writer, as I have already told you I have started back in 1967 as a
bank clerk. On the 1st
of Jan 1991 I became a branch manager and I have resigned in 2001.
Q. When did you start writing?

2. A. I remember myself in junior high school writing short poems (called tziattista or mandinades)
for my teachers and for my fellow students. These kind of short poems are written in the
Cypriot dialect and are usually funny and used to tease people! I continue writing but I made
one big mistake, for which now I regret, I did not keep those poems somewhere safe and I lost
them all! When I resigned from my job, I have started writing in a more professional way. In
2001 I published my first book, a poetic collection under the title “From the bottom of my
heart”. Since then I have published more than ten books, of which some of them are poetic
collections and some are folk stories.
Q. What was the first reaction of the Cypriot readers to your first work?
A. It was a worm welcome and very encouraging for me. That gave me strength and confidence
to continue. Since then many of the stories from my books have become theatrical plays and
one can watch them during elementary school’s events. Many of my poems were transformed
into songs by some Cypriot composers! I would like to them all.
Q. I know you love all of your books, but is there any of your work that makes you feel more
proud?
A. I am proud of my book with four folk stories written
back in the 2010 as the ministry of education of Cyprus has
bought and send one copy to each of the elementary
schools of my country. The name of the book is “Cypriot
Folk Stories in a poetic form”. Each of these stories
become alive every time that the kids rise them to
theatrical plays at schools.
We ll give you a small theatrical poem called the Ladybird
(Koutsoukoutou / paparouna) that Mr Papas wrote. We
tried to made a rhyme in English too.
Αφηγητής
Πάλαι ξαναξεκίνησεν τζιαι όπως
επαρπάταν
Ηύρεν κάτι παλλικάρκα που
χορεύκαν μες στη στράταν
Κουτσουκουτού
Γεια σας ρε παλληκάρκα μου. Γεια
σας τζιαι πάλιν γεια σας
Storyteller
She started again to walk and
while she was walking,
She found handsome boys , oh!
They were dancing.
Ladybird
Hello handsome boys. Hello, Hello
again!

3. Να σιέρεστε τη νιότη σας να’ σιετε
την υγειά σας.
Παλληκάρκα
Γεια σου τζια σε Κουτσουκουτού.
Γεια σου τζιαι πάλαι γεια σου.
Ήντα γυρεύκει που ποδά τζιυρά η
αφεντιά σου;
Κουτσουκουτού
Άντραν θέλω ρε κοπέλια να δεκτεί
να παντρευτούμεν,
Να τον έχω βασιλιάν μου τζιαι ωραία
να περνούμεν.
Be always healthy and spread all
over joy.
Boys
Hello too ladybird. Hello again
hello.
What are you looking for
And you are so bored?
Ladybird
I am looking for a handsome man
to marry him just now,
to make him my own king,
and give him my crown.
We then thanked Mr. Papas for his
time and for the fantastic stories
that his books are telling us for so
many years now!]
The interview was made by the
students of 1D class and translated in
English.