A PANEL DISCUSSION WITH DIMITRIS LYACOS. POLIP FESTIVAL, PRISTINA, KOSOVO

Dimitris Lyacos’s cross-genre trilogy Poena Damni is among the most well-received pieces of contemporary European literature ... 

Same article was also published in http://alnoor.se/article.asp?id=369050

[...] a cadence that allows its more macabre undertones to shine through in a way that is at times vaguely unsettling and at others graphic in ways that are horrifying. [...] filled me with a sense of dread every time I turned the page.

The title of this anthology is already mysterious: Poena Damni . I'm not a Latin, but I would roughly translate it as "The revenge or the punishment of loss". After reading the book, I also realize that it means the loss of home, of orientation, of security. Poena Damni consists of three parts. “Z213: EXIT” has almost a hundred pages, the other two texts about 45 pages each.

Dimitris Lyacos’ Trilogie „Poena Damni“ entstand seit 1992 als „work-in-progress“ mit Themen, die vom Sündenbock über die Wiederkehr der Toten bis zur Psychose reichen. Sie beginnt mit dem Schluss und geht zum Anfang zurück. Der Titel bezieht sich auf die Strafe der verdammten Seelen ...

Excerpt in various languages published in Specimen Magazine - The Babel Review of Translations

Greece, the cradle of European civilisation and democracy, collapses slowly. Its economy and the austerity measures demanded by the European Union pushes the country to the edge of the abyss. The country is sinking, the children of the mythological gods are fading. Photographies: SOPHIE KNITTEL  Editing & animation ALEXANDRE LIEBERT Voice-over KOSTADIS MIZARAS Sound creation BENJAMIN CHAVAL & ALEXANDRE LIEBERT TEXTS The First Death, extract / DIMITRIS LYACOS Hymn 28 to Athena / ANON Ion, extract / A. R. HOPE MONCRIEFF