Vasiliki “Kiki” Dimoula (née Radou; ; 6 June 1931 – 22 February 2020) was a Greek poet. She was the first female poet ever to be included in the prestigious French publisher Gallimard’s poetry series.

Work

Dimoula's work is haunted by the existential dissolution of the post-war era. Her central themes are hopelessness, insecurity, absence and oblivion. Using diverse subjects (from a "Marlboro boy" to mobile phones) and twisting grammar in unconventional ways, she accentuated the power of the words through astonishment and surprise, but always managed to retain a sense of hope. Her poetry has been translated into English, French, German, Swedish, Danish, Spanish, Italian and many other languages. In 2014, the eleventh issue of Tinpahar published 'Kiki Dimoula in Translation', which featured three English translations of her better known works.

Recognition

Dimoula was awarded the Greek State Prize twice (1971, 1988), as well as the Kostas and Eleni Ouranis Prize (1994) and the Αριστείο Γραμμάτων of the Academy of Athens (2001). She was awarded the European Prize for Literature for 2009. Since 2002, Dimoula was a member of the Academy of Athens.

Life

Dimoula worked as a clerk for the Bank of Greece. She was married to the poet Athos Dimoulas (1952–1985), with whom she had two children.

Works