The Department of Classics at King’s College London is pleased to announce the second series of the Niki Marangou Prize and this year’s winner, Eleonora Colli (BA Comparative Literature, 2^nd year) for her performance in the module 5AACTL24 Myth and literature: ancient stories, modern meanings. 

"Winning the Niki Marangou Prize means a lot to me. More than anything, it means that my work is getting recognition: classical reception and the use of the classics within Modern Greek literature is one of my main academic interests, and it is really rewarding to see that my researches and studies are going in the right direction. As someone who wants to pursue an academic career, this prize is a truly important milestone for a possible publication in the future," says Eleonora.

"The module 5AACTL24 Myth and literature: ancient stories, modern meaningsdefinitely allowed me to delve into different facets and approaches of classical reception, something that I had previously worked on at both high school and university level but that I had never dedicated the work of a whole module to: this allowed me to analyze in my essays the role that the classics play in two distinct areas of literature, researching first how classical literature is articulated within anglophone Modernism and then writing about the role it plays in constructing Modern Greek national identity. Taking this module also allowed me to display my interest for both the Ancient and the Modern Greek world when applying to the Harvard Summer Program in Greece, mostly based at the Centre of Hellenic Studies in Nafplio, an amazing academic experience that occupied most of my summer this year". 

The Prize was first established in 2016, thanks to the generosity of Mr Constantis Candounas, in memory of the inspirational Cypriot poet, novelist, painter and bookshop-owner Niki Marangou, who died in 2013. From 2019 the prize will be awarded annually for a literary translation from Modern Greek into English, for an initial period of 3 years.

The competition is open in each year to all BA and MA students currently enrolled in any Faculty of King’s College London. A choice of a verse and a prose passage from the work of Niki Marangou will be set for translation. Entries must be submitted electronically to the Classics Department office by 31 January in the year of entry. The award will be made at a public event organised by the Centre for Hellenic Studies in May or June, and winning entries may be published on the Niki Marangou website.

The value of the prize is £500.

Entries will be judged by a panel of three members of the teaching staff of the Department of Classics, or suitably qualified staff in another Department, nominated by the Koraes Professor of Modern Greek and Byzantine History, Language and Literature. The panel will normally include and be chaired by the Koraes Professor.