Trafika Europe 3 - Latvian Sojourn

With the People from the Bridge (excerpt)

Dimitris Lyacos

Dimitris Lyacos (born 1966, in Athens) is a leading figure in the contemporary avant-garde. His trilogy Poena Damni (Z213: EXIT, With the People from the Bridge, The First Death), has been translated into six languages and is performed in the US and Europe. This work developed gradually over twenty years, inspiring also drama, contemporary dance, video and sculpture installations, opera and contemporary music. Classified as postmodern and cross-genre, the trilogy relies in fact on a well-defined structure exploring classical themes: the scapegoat, the return of the dead, physical suffering and mental illness. A journey to a mystifying, unfamiliar world straddles and crosses perceived boundaries of literary form. The outcome is an alternate, allegorical universe, reaching beyond dystopia in an attempt to forge a new myth.

Translated from the Greek by Shorsha Sullivan.

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