Course Process

Below you can find an interview with Athina Tsagkaraki, a screenwriter and poet from Greece. Born in 1991, she realized from a young age that writing was her passion and she pursued it. She studied Cinematography and specialized in the area of screenwriting.

When did you get interested in poetry?

From a young age, I loved to express myself through writing. I was the only kid in primary school who wrote five essay pages. Then I became the girl in high school who wrote poems and they circulated through school. That’s how it started.

Where do you get your inspiration from?

It is not so much a matter of inspiration for me as of decompression. Many times there is a feeling inside me that cannot be expressed. It just swells like a wave, looking to find the way out. These are the times when all this becomes words. One could say that the inspiration comes from within me.

How do you feel when you write poems?

When something is completed I feel light. As I just described, this procedure works for me somewhat therapeutically. It looks like negative energy is being turned into words. So, after writing, the sea is calm.

What advice would you give to those who want to devote themselves to poetry?

I do not know if it is easy in the times we live in, to be able to live as a poet exclusively. It would be a very romantic thought. What I would advise every person is to dedicate themselves to what they love and redeems them, without a second thought. There is no second life after all.

Do you think that through poetry we can foster the integration of cultures?

I believe that poetry, like any kind of art, brings evolution to culture, even society itself and this is something that every artist needs to take into account.

How can we train ourselves to be a better poet?

Practice definitely helps a lot. It worked for me a lot to constantly try to deconstruct my thinking. The seminars are also very helpful. I do not know if poetry can be taught, but I know for sure that one can get better at it.

Can you give us some examples of how one can use poetry in workshops with youth?

Through poetry you can express a lot of feelings. So I would suggest that young people who participate in a workshop to find their deepest feelings and try to express those through writing verses, without being afraid of what the result will be. The process is going to be very cathartic and they might even find a new way of expressing themselves.