RANIA ANGELAKOUDI 1967 GRE Thessaloniki
Mentor: Lena Kyropoulos
SVEŠTENICA

Svijeću sam zapalila na tvom oltaru
O sveštenice, usijana je!
Omotana kao ti, u sjaju tvoje boginje
Borim se s očima da ostanu otvorene
sjaju tvoje svjetlosti…
Zaspljepljuješ me…
Moje poštovanje….
Moje strahopoštovanje…
Moje dostojanstvo….
I sva bogatstva mog bića
Ponizno ću leći pred tvoje noge
Dok stojiš tako visoka
Visoko… Veličanstveno… Obožavana.
Moja sveštenice… .Životu nepredvidljivi!
Moje tijelo i dušu si osvojila
I sva bogatstva mog bića
Tebi sam zavjetovala,
I sva bogatstva mog bića
Tebi ću zavjetovati
I ustrajat ću
I podržavat ću svoje vrijednosti
Tako da sa tvojim vrijednostima konvergiraju
I postanu ideal
Tvoj i moj!
Moja obožavana sveštenice,
Život je tako voljen, a opet tako jadan.
————————————————–
PRIESTESS

A candle I lit in your altar
O Priestess incandescent!
Enveloped as your are in the glow of your goddess
I struggle my eyes to keep open
against the splendor of your light…
It dazzles me!
My respect….
My awe…
My dignity….
And all the riches of my being
I humbly lay at your feet
As you stand tall
Towering…Majestic…Adored
My priestess….Life unpredictable!
My body and soul you have conquered
and all the riches of my being
to you I have bequeathed
and all the riches of my being
to you I shall bequeath
and I shall persevere
and I shall uphold my values
so that with your values they converge
to become ideals
for you and me!
My adored Priestess
Life so beloved and yet so wretched.
______________________________
Your biography
I was born in Sweden and dreaming of becoming a painter. At my early childhood I started writing some lyrics. later on I studied English literature and during my studies I discovered the famous American and British poets. Painting and poetry became my favourite activities. I work as an English teacher and International Journalust of Fijet. What makes my poetry different is love and faith to life. My poems are full of optimistic messages influenced by my multicultural background and travels to all over the world!
A list of published book:
A spring of my own ( poetry collection)
On Pomegranate lanes (poetry collection)
And numerus co-operatios in poetry anthologies
Your opinion about our contest – Mili Dueli?
A well organized and interesting competition from poets from all over Europe.
Do you expect to win the contest?
YES

ILIAS FOUKIS 1969 GRE Athens
Mentor: Lena Kyropoulos
POSLJEDNJE OD HOMERA

Danas počinje doba zvano jesen.

Kako je lišće počelo padati
a ja starac
i moje su misli počele padati
a volio bih jednom razgovarati
jeseni – o jeseni.

Ne nastavlja se ništa odavde…

Napušten sam, jedno za drugim,
poput Svijeta
velikih halucinacija Postanka
metafore…
alegorije…
simbola…

U Grčku se vraćaju sa životom
i ostavljaju me sa smrću u Troji.

Zato se krećem iza njih
da napokon vidim jedan čist dan
dovodeći tako priču do kraja
i s klasičnom dikcijom tražeći mjeru sreće
jer je sreća božanski uzrok
čak i na svom početku.

Ali bojim se
šta je to za moderne kritičare budućnosti
kojima
jesen može stići
kao vječni mrak
moje riječi jeseni – o jeseni
kao da se nisu ni dogodile
ili možda uvrštene u poglavlje
Ilijade ili Odiseje
i stoga je bolje ako… i dalje budem rastao.
——————————————————-
THE LAST OF HOMER

Today the season called autumn begins.

As the leaves began to fall
and me an Old Man
my thoughts also began to fall
and I would like to speak this once
to autumn — about autumn.

It doesnt continue on from here…

I am abandoned, one after the other,
like the World
by the Grand hallucinations of Genesis
the metaphors…
the allegories…
the symbols…

They return to Greece with life
and leave me with death in Troy.

That is why I move along behind them
to see at long last one clean day
bringing thus this Epic to a definitive close
and with Classical diction find a measure of happiness
because Happiness is the Divine Cause
even for its own Beginning.

But Im afraid
that for the Modern critics of the Future
to whom
autumn may arrive
as eternal dark
my words about autumn — to autumn
as if nothing was going on
might then be incorporated into a chapter
of the Iliad or the Odyssey
and thus its better if… I grow still.
________________________________
Your biography
Biography
The greek poet ILIAS FOUKIS , was born on 20 August 1969 in Epirus in northwestern Greece. Began to write poetry since 1988 when he was student in the Lyceum. Published volume of poetry THE TESTAMENT OF A LESSER GOD , which has been translated into ten languages including English, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, etc.. Has won literary awards – OSCAR DE DOS OURO VENCEDORES, Brazil 2012 – , MASSIMO D’AZEGLIO, Italy, 2012, 2013 ,HER MAJESTY THE QUALITY AWARD 2013
Heraldry order for Parliamentary and Commanders of Brazil – CITA DEL GALATEO, Italy in 2013. His poem titled YOUNG GREEK SOLITARY was included in Poetry Anthology – U.S. Library of Congress. Works and lives in Athens.
A list of published book:
Your opinion about our contest – Mili Dueli?
Very nice.
Do you expect to win the contest?
YES

DEMETRA KINTSAKI 2003 GRE Thessaloniki
Mentor: Lena Kyropoulos
EGZODUS

Prije pada,
Prije početka, čak
Dani su bili bezvremeni ovdje
U našem vlastitom Rajskom vrtu

Ništa nije bilo dosadno
Uz molitve koje su nas držale
Med i mlijeko je teklo
Voće i sunce i zlato

Ukleti događaj, još uistinu slatko
U drhtajućoj svetoj ruci
I zabranjena osnova bez dostignuća

Raj propade, misli se probuduše.
Kakva oholost, kakva uvreda
Kao da je otrovna zmija
Kako se zatrova ta tragedija
Najljubaznijih od iskušenja
Najnevinijih od grijehova

Noseći naše dvije polomljene krune
Sudbinski podržavam moralni talog
Živuća, u istrglim poklicima
Zabavljena pokidanim nitima

Ali kad su ti oči otvorene
I stvarnost dođe
Kao iz sna probuđen
Ti se kriješ i tražiš pokrivač

I Krivnja ti hrani crijeva
Kad su ti oči otvorene široko
I osjećaš vatru koju si upalio
Koja gori dok si živ

Akt žudnje i povjerenja
Kad u drhtajućim svetim rukama
Iskušenje te preklinje da ga dodirneš

Raj propade, misli se probuduše.
Kakva oholost, kakva uvreda
Kao da je otrovna zmija
Kako voljena je ta tragedija
Najslađih iskušenja
Najčudnijih grijehova

Noseći naše dvije polomljene krune
Sudbinski podržavam moralni talog
Živuća, ispod crna, teških oblaka
Zajedno, počevši između krajeva

Gejtovi su zatvoreni.
Ne može se nikud sad.
Obećaj preživljenje
Arogantno, bezgrešno

Stojeći visoko, još u sramoti
Kažnjeni, prognani, deložirani,
Jesmo li pravedno osramoćeni?
Ili smo samo žrtve?

Akt upaljenih želja
Sa drhtajućom svetom rukom
Mi diramo svjetla i diramo vatre

Raj propada, slomili smo pravila
Kriminalom, zauvijek pomjereni
Za katastrofe koje smo izazvali
Kako komično ova tragedija zvuči
Od najsretnije je pustoši
Od najljepših naših nedostataka

Noseći naša dva vječna zavjeta
Sudbinski podržavam moralni talog
Živuća, dok me ima u usklicima
Zajedno, do zajednjeg daha

Grešnici od nađeg rođenja
Napustit ćemo ako moramo
Iza svega, mi smo od zemlje
Pa prašina i treba da ostane prašina

_______________________________
Your biography
I am a 17 year old student of high school.
I have been writing poetry and literature since I have been eight years old. I like reading a lot.I won the first prize in poetry in Greece’s 2019 competition against bullying.
A list of published book:
Greek poetry collection 2019.
Your opinion about our contest – Mili Dueli?
Great opportunity for people of all ages, having common interests connecting people all over the world.
Do you expect to win the contest?
YES

More about organization of the Semi-Final round (4th Round):

Mili Dueli 2020: Organization Of The Fourth Round

Objava Mili Dueli 2020/21: Poezija grčkih autora (Polufinale) pojavila se prvi puta na Mili Dueli.

The contest is traditionally composed of 5 elimination rounds. In each round, the number of authors decreases, and in the last, Fifth round, the winner is decided by a voting system based on the Eurovision Song Contest scoring system. The main responsible person of the contest is Nermin Delić, the idea creator and organizer of the contest. For 8 years in a row, Mili Dueli have been gathering authors and spreading the influence of poetry in everyday life.

Nermin Delić

Briefly about the First Round: The selection of all received applications (739) was performed by Nermin Delić. The organizer selected 476 authors for presentation in the Second Round.

Briefly about the Second Round: After the selection in the First Round by the organizer of the contest, Nermin Delić, 476 authors were selected and presented in the Second Round. In the Second Round, the authors are classified in 12 duels, according to the countries they come from. Due to the number of participants, Bosnia and Herzegovina had 2 duels (DUEL 1, DUEL 2), and Serbia 3 (DUEL 3, DUEL 4, DUEL 5). Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Bulgaria had one duel each (DUEL 6, DUEL 7, DUEL 8, DUEL 9). Due to the small number of participants, authors from Albania, Greece, Kosovo, Romania and Slovenia were presented in one duel (DUEL 10). Poets with Balkan roots, but with current residence outside the Balkans, are grouped together in one duel (DUEL 11). In the end, all authors coming from non-Balkan countries are grouped into one duel (DUEL 12).

The beginning of the presentation of the duel on the official Facebook profile of Mili Dueli was on July 12, 2020. Duels are presented in order, every 2-3 or 4 days according to the scope of the duel. For the first 15 days from the presentation of the duel, the followers of Mili Dueli were able to vote in the comments by entering the author’s number below the picture where her/his poem is presented. In addition to the readers, the members of the jury, composed of 12 renowned and important for Mili Duel artists from the Balkans, also voted. They selected 90% of the authors to pass to the Third Round. The other 10% is intended for the votes of the readers, for those who were not selected by the jury, and who have the great support of their friends and companions Mili Dueli.

Briefly about the Third Round: In the third round, the selection of the best authors continued and only the TOP 100 best authors had the opportunity to continue.

Briefly about the Fourth Round: The fourth round is brought by the TOP 50 best authors who pass to the final, fifth round. It is composed of a total of 16 duels.

You can see more about the Fourth Round (how it is voted, how it is organized) here:

Mili Dueli 2020: Organization Of The Fourth Round

FOURTH ROUND (SEMI-FINALS)

RESULTS

First of all, an important announcement … In the fourth round, we were looking for the 50 best authors according to the procedure established by the organization of the competition. Looking at the results, as the Organizer, I realized that in certain duels, the authors were much more dominant, and that surely many more authors deserved to pass, at least according to the presentation in the semifinals. For that purpose, I decided that the number of authors who go directly further should be 36, and that a total of 34 authors should fight for the remaining 14 places. All those authors who did not go directly further will equally send the poem for the finals, but only 14 of them will be presented, based on the quality of the submitted poem and the accompanying video material that traditionally adorns our Finals. More about everything, certainly below …

DUEL 8 – GREECE

WHAT’S NEXT? (PREPARATION FOR THE FINALS)

DARK BLUE. Authors who entered the TOP 50 directly! These authors are officially the finalists of this season, therefore, participants in the last round of Mili DuelI 2020/21. From this moment on, they need to contact their mentors and start preparing the poem for the Finals. All details related to the preparation and sending of the poem for the Finals will be received in a private message in the inbox. Please be patient!

LIGHT BLUE. – Authors who has chance to participate in the finals, the last round of Mili Duels 2020/21. These are authors who did not go directly to the final round, but due to the fantastic performance in the semifinals, the Organizer decided to give a new opportunity to promote their poetry. There are a total of 34 of them in such a situation, and 14 of them will be participants in the Finals. The decision will be made by the Organizer based on their application for the Finals. From this point on, they can also contact their mentors and start preparing a poem for the Finals.

TOP 100 – Authors who remained in the TOP 100 and did not make it to the Mili Dueli 2020 Finals. Their contribution to the spread of the project and poetry will be rewarded by receiving electronic recognition for their participation as they represented their countries in a bright light (TOP 100 from 739 registered !!!), and will accordingly receive recognition for the intercultural dialogue of the Balkan countries and the countries of the world in which they participated.

All the presented poems will be represented in a electronic collection which, apparently, will have its own printed edition (summer, 2021), when MILI DUELI BALKAN TOUR awaits us. More on that soon!

Also, all authors who are 2000 or younger will be presented at the MILI DUEL JUNIOR ONLINE POETRY CONTEST which will start a few days after the end of the eighth season of Mili Duels 2020 – Online Balkan Poetry Contest!

JURY COMMENTS

Organizer: NERMIN DELIĆ

Dear friends,

First of all, thank you for showing the greatest sense of loyalty to the whole project this season. The Corona-year prolonged the contest itself, and at the same time some of my private achievements happened (I finished university and started working), so the time spent on the project was reduced to a certain extent. Either way, our play through poetry continued, and so in these wonderful summer days we had the opportunity to read the 100 most representative authors we had so carefully selected.

In this, the fourth and at the same time penultimate round, we had the opportunity to enjoy the poetry of all Balkan countries, but also many countries around the world. Somewhere it turned out to be good that there was longer voting time than in previous seasons. Looking at the number of views of all the semi-final poems, with 328,492 views on Facebook, my mission was already fulfilled. Looking at the countries that read us, I could not stop, if I started to list … Almost 330,000 times we entered the everyday life of people on social media with poetry… I noticed at the beginning that there were two camps among the authors; one who enthusiastically welcomed the publication of their poem and those who did not promote their poetry even to their friends. The former shared the same with their friends, because for the first time, somewhere in our region, people can vote for poetry; for the first time it was important to point out that you have passed the selection of 739 authors and you are one step closer to the end, exclusively with your poetry. Because this was not an invitation to like the conquest of handbags, irons, shelves, etc., this was an invitation to the world of poetry in which each of these 100 great authors lives!. But probably everyone had their reasons for being one and not the other, and from that point of view it certainly can’t be a complaint. I rewarded some of the poems, even though they had poor readability, because they are masterful in themselves!

Just led by a mass of people who wrote me every day who they were voting for, shared your poems so beautifully and decorated their Facebook walls, I didn’t want to conflict my opinion with the opinion of the masses. But points always say it all. So in this case. I started to comment and went in order, all in order to write as good and clear comments as possible, WHY such points. But then I finally realized that in most cases the same mistake, the same comment, was written only in different words.

Therefore, I decided to point out in general the following …

When submitting a poem, to any contest, anywhere, even where you are already sure that the poem will be published, awarded, or generally given some recognition, please take note of the following:

1. LITERACY. There were so many mistakes that turned me away from some nice emotions I felt while reading your poems. If you’re a writer, that doesn’t mean you have to be computer-wise and orthographically perfect, but if you’re sending a poem somewhere, to someone, let it be viewed with other eyes as well; maybe someone who knows maybe less than you will know something more about certain things. It is this item that is crucial in depriving the spirit of amateurism that a writer can carry within himself. Four-dot in poems, spaces several times, unnecessary punctuation marks in the wrong places; all of which violates the RHYTHM and AESTHETIC VALUES and, ultimately, the GENERAL IMPRESSION of the poem. If you make me take a break in the wrong place with a comma, that thread that runs the poem will break, and I will remain confused. I have to admit that these mistakes were greatly reduced, as a team of mentors worked with the authors, but there were authors who submitted their poems without a mentor and where such mistakes were noticed.
2. WORK WITH A MENTOR. This item may be crucial, as it involves collaboration on the selection and / or correction of a semi-final poem. It’s not just a conversation about a poem, it’s a conversation of two cultures, often two peoples, and you were representatives of your own. The basis of any peace is acquaintance, cooperation and compromise.
   We did not take it as evil if an author, in the words of his mentor, still insisted on being “according to him”, but it is a completely wrong form not to respect the form of the contest that requires cooperation, therefore, not to contact his mentor at all, not to greet him.
   My impression is certainly complemented by the opinion of my colleagues, members of the jury, and your mentors, and in this regard we are looking for a person who will be a part of us in the next season of the contest.
3. OPINION OF READERS / YOUR FRIENDS. We should never primarily be guided by the number of likes and reviews that one author has achieved on the social network, because then the competition part would mean a struggle for numbers, and not for the quality of the poem. However, I am of the opinion that on this occasion as well, through the number of votes cast, you showed two things; first – how much you actually care about going through; the second – how much support you can actually collect for your poetry. I note that for the first time it is a vote for poetry, where free votes decide who will be the winner. In this regard, I rewarded all the authors who heartily presented their poem.
4. POETIC VALUE OF THE TEXT. Many of the texts in the verse that are sent are often not clarified as poetry, so it was necessary to point out to the authors what is poetic and what is not in their poems. Judging subjectively, the original metaphors and comparisons are something I admired the most, because they impress the most. The most common example I give to everyone is this: if it was written IT WAS COLD it has less poetic value than IT WAS ICE, where in the same sense, a metaphor is introduced. If someone writes IT WAS WHITE LIKE SNOW, which is expected, clichéd and outdated, it will certainly be less impressive than IT WAS WHITE LIKE A NEEDLE HOUSE.
   When it comes to rhyming poems, rhymes should not be surpassed and expected. Here, too, the use of new poetic words and their skillfully found rhymes was appreciated. Of course, no one should invent hot water, but every step out of everyday life was considered a success.
5. AESTHETIC VALUE OF THE TEXT. Applications submitted for the semifinals were to be complete. Any answer to the questions related to the biography and the general impression of the author about the contest was evaluated. Also, the poem itself was supposed to be completely computer-correct. It is extremely unnecessary to point out grammatical / spelling mistakes to someone in this round of the competition, because every such mistake is a sign of the author’s lack of dedication to the text and work with a mentor.
6. GENERAL IMPRESSION. The authors have sent poems in the previous three rounds, too. It is also, a significant factor that influenced the distribution of my points.

Opinions of the rest of Jury Members

Their mentor, Lena said: “Rania uses words who transformers them to pictures with out to say it loud. Illias is using Greek beautiful words they have sound but I miss the coralliation of this during reading his poems..Demetra has dynamic and potential strength but I didn’t see it this time…I think Rania did a great work…In such less words can describe so many different worlds..She breakes the walls of fear…

You can read poems by Greek authors here:

Mili Dueli 2020/21: Poezija grčkih autora (Polufinale)

MILI DUELI 

Made in Bosnia and Herzegovina
by Nermin Delić

Europe / Balkan Peninsula
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Central Bosnia Canton
Jajce Town 70202

Sva prava zadržana. // All rights reserved.

Objava MILI DUELI 2020/21: Semi-final results – DUEL 8 – Greece pojavila se prvi puta na Mili Dueli.