Leonidas Galazis was born in Nicosia in 1962. He studied Greek Philology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and gained a postgraduate degree from the Department of Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies of the University of Cyprus. He earned a PhD in Modern Greek Philology from the same University with a thesis on Poetics and Ideology in Cypriot Theatre (1869-1925). He is working as Inspector for Philological Courses at the Ministry of Education, Sports, and Youth.

In October 2019 he was awarded the “Alexander the Great” Golden Medal for his contribution to literature and culture, and a Certificate of Homage from “The Café of Ideas” (Salamis-Greece) International Cultural Organisation for the Development of the Intellect and Art. He also received a Commendation from the Club for UNESCO of Piraeus and Islands (member of the Executive Board of the European and North American Federation of UNESCO Clubs, Centres and Associations-EFUCA).

Α. WORK

A1. POETRY

Galazis has published the following books of poetry: Ματωμένα κοράλλια (Bloodied Corals, 1979); Ο λοιμός και άλλα ποιήματα (Hunger and other poems, folio 1981); Ιατρική βεβαίωση (Medical statement, 1982, Prize for Young Writer from Cyprus’s Ministry of Education); Στυφά κυδώνια (Sour quinces, 1988); Φωτηλασία (Expelling Light, 1999), Παραδαρμός εν αλφαβήτω (Distress-in-the-alphabet, 2007), Λοκριγκάνα (Locrigana, 2010), Δοκιμές συγκολλήσεως (Trials on welding, 2013), Ληξιπρόθεσμες επαγγελίες (Promises in arrears, 2016) and Στρώσεις του ανέφικτου (Layers of the unfeasible, 2020). In 2010, he was awarded the State Prize for Poetry for Locrigana. His work is featured in Anthologies in Cyprus, Greece, Italy, and France.

Poetry books in translation: Trials on Welding, 2015 (English). Corales del silencio, 2022 (Spanish).

Α2. STUDIES-ESSAYS-REVIEWS

He has published the following studies-essays (in Greek): Personification in the poetic work of Costas Montis, 2008; Textual refractions, 2012; Poetics and ideology in Cypriot theatre, 2012; Texts, tropes, significations. Issues in Literature, 2018; and Other meanings and inner worlds. Essays on literary issues, Athens, 2022. Studies and critical reviews by Galazis are featured in Cyprus’s literary journals, as well as in the periodicals Nea Estia, Nea Efthyne, Nea Paideia and Koralli.

Α3. PARTICIPATION IN COLLECTIVE VOLUMES

Α3.1. Anthologies of Poetry

Poems by Galazis have been featured, inter alia, in the following Anthologies (in Greek): Anthology of Cypriot Poets; Athens, Taxideutis, 2008. – Hours of Nicosia in the poetry of the Cypriots, Nicosia, 2000, vol. II. – A Hundred Voices of Fury and Affliction, Cyprus, 2000. –The poems of 2010, The poems of 2013, The poems of 2016, Athens, Koinonia ton Dekaton. – Una foglia verde oro. Poesia cipriota contemporanea, Lecce, Argo, 2012 (in Italian). – For what should glimmer; Limassol, Aktis, 2015. – Dark Root–Lyrical Anthology, vol. II 1940-2000, Athens, Papazisis, 2016. – Uva di Cipro. Anthologia della giovane poesia greco-cipriota, Joker, 2014 (in Italian). –Anthologie de la poésie chypriote contemporaine, Editions Variations, 2016 (in French). – A Tribute to Contemporary Cypriot Literature, per. Eneken 43 (January – February 2017). – Natia Anaxagorou – Lefteris Papaleontiou, Within the secret winds. Vasilis Michaelides. Visual and Poetic Extensions, Limassol, Municipality of Limassol, 2018. - DEKATA (issue 57- spring 2019): A Tribute to Cypriot Literature.

Α3.2. Conference Minutes

Galazis’s papers presented at one-day events and conferences on issues of literary criticism are featured in the following collective volumes (in Greek): The life and work of Tefkros Anthias, Nicosia, 2016; Cypriot literature and criticism, Nicosia, Union of Cyprus Writers, 2017; Tefkros Anthias – Thodosis Pierides: 50 years since their death, Nicosia, Project Development Service – Cyprus Pedagogical Institute, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports and Youth 2019; (Coeditor with Andri Constantinou and Kaiti Diamantakou), Theatre in modern and contemporary Cyprus. Minutes of Conference in memory of Yiannis Katsouris. Herodotos – Cyprus Theatre Museum, Athens, 2020; Minutes of the First Scientific Conference of Literature and Criticism Association, titled “Cavafy and Cyprus” (Editorial coordination: Kyriakos Ioannou, Leonidas Galazis, Stella Alexiou), Nicosia, L.C.A., 2021; Minutes of the Literature and Criticism Association’s Series of Lectures, titled “Trends and Quests in the poetry of the Generation of the Invasion” (Editorial coordination: Leonidas Galazis, Kyriakos Ioannou, Stavroula Biou), Nicosia, L.C.A., 2021; “Two Centuries of Eponymous Cypriot Poetry”, Anthology (1837-2021), Nicosia, Literature and Criticism Association, 2021; Minutes of the Second Scientific Conference of Literature and Criticism Association and of Cyprus’s “Echo” Group, titled “1821-2021 Palamas and Cypriot Letters”, Nicosia, L.C.A., 2022; Minutes of the Third Scientific Conference of Literature and Criticism Association, titled “Dionysios Solomos and Cyprus”, Nicosia, L.C.A., 2023.

Α4. BOOK EDITING

Galazis has edited the following publications (in Greek): Yiannis Katsouris: Culture, a way of life, Nicosia, Cultural Services of the Ministry of Education and Culture, 2012; Cypriot Literature and Criticism, Nicosia, Union of Cyprus Writers, 2017; A Hundred Sonnets by Cypriots, Mikrophilologika Tetradia 20, Nicosia 2016, p. 60. Research and Selection in collaboration with L. Papaleontiou; Tefkros Anthias – Thodosis Pierides: 50 years since their death, Nicosia, Project Development Service – Cyprus Pedagogical Institute, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports and Youth, 2019; and (Coeditor with Andri Constantinou and Kaiti Diamantakou), Theatre in modern and contemporary Cyprus. Minutes of Conference in memory of Yiannis Katsouris. Herodotos – Cyprus Theatre Museum, Athens 2020. Minutes of the First Scientific Conference of Literature and Criticism Association, titled “Cavafy and Cyprus” (Editorial coordination: Kyriakos Ioannou, Leonidas Galazis, Stella Alexiou), Nicosia, L.C.A., 2021; Minutes of the Literature and Criticism Association’s Series of Lectures, titled “Trends and Quests in the poetry of the Generation of the Invasion” (Editorial coordination: Leonidas Galazis, Kyriakos Ioannou, Stavroula Biou), Nicosia, L.C.A., 2021; “Two Centuries of Eponymous Cypriot Poetry”, Anthology (1837-2021), Nicosia, Literature and Criticism Association, 2021; Minutes of the Second Scientific Conference of Literature and Criticism Association and of Cyprus’s “Echo” Group, titled “1821-2021 Palamas and Cypriot Letters”, Nicosia, L.C.A., 2022; Minutes of the Third Scientific Conference of Literature and Criticism Association, titled “Dionysios Solomos and Cyprus”, Nicosia, L.C.A., 2023.

Β. PARTICIPATION IN JUDGING PANNELS, COMMITTEES AND UNIONS

Galazis has served as jury member for the State Literature Awards (2015-2017) and as the elected President of the Union of Cyprus Writers (2017-2018). He is a member of the Committee to Encourage Love of Reading In Schools and in the Society, and a member of the Association of Friends of the Cyprus Library. He is the President of the Literature and Criticism Association (2019-).

Reviews on the work of L. Galazis (in Greek) are accessible in the following link: https://olk.com.cy/members/galazis-leonidas/