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Skeleton Keys [+ Intro.] (Redbeck Press 2003) (Constantinos) ALEXIS LYKIARD(opoulos) was born in Athens, 1940. At the start of the Greek Civil War that followed the German Occupation during WW2 his parents sought refuge in Egypt, before settling in England. Lykiard learned English at the age of six, and was duly anglicised. This necessary if often painfully surreal process is outlined in the Introduction to Selected Poems 1956-96. The setting of his autobiographical novel Strange Alphabet (1970) was the Greece of 1967, that fateful April of the Colonels' military coup. The book was highly praised by, among others, Andreas Papandreou and Jean Rhys. Until now though, Lykiard has never explored an earlier, equally troubled period in 20th century Greek history - a shared past of family secrets and lies, of public and private betrayal and heroism. Skeleton Keys describes for the first time, through these distinctive and unsparing poems, that extraordinary era with its aftermath and poisonous legacies. Lykiard's book focuses therefore on some shockingly intimate and tormented youthful memories. Here in sharp, significant detail - recaptured by the wittily honest yet movingly precise use of language for which Alexis Lykiard is best known - are various key moments in an eventful writing life to date. “There is some masterly poetry here … pure Greek in pure English” [Sebastian Barker] “His argument with the world is brilliantly waged. Readers will learn a lot while they are moved by it” [Angus Calder] “Alexis Lykiard writes English poetry with true Greek directness”[Yannis Goumas] “A brave and painful chronicle… A very moving and provocative confrontation with demons” [Kit Wright] “National treasure” [Simon Darragh, The London Magazine] www.thelondonmagazine.net “This voyage into a personal past – WW2 and its aftermath, savage civil war – inevitably invokes the mythology of ancient Greece… Poetry here resumes its storytelling function, interspersed with memory and reflection, much as it did in its earliest traditional role.” [John Daniel, Tears in the Fence] “His masterpiece” [Dr Brian Hinton, MBE] “Thank you for Skeleton Keys. What a serious treat.” [Trevor Griffiths, 2008]
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