My Cyprus

JOACHIM SARTORIUS is a poet, translator and commentator. He grew up in Tunis and spent twenty years in the diplomatic service in New York, Istanbul and Nicosia. He was Secretary General of the Goethe Institut until 2000, and from 2001-2011 was Director of the Berliner Festspiele. He lives and works in Berlin. A collection of his poetry, Ice Memory (Carcanet, 2006), is available in English. He is the author of The Geckos of Bellapais (HBK Edition) and The Princes’ Islands.

• 1The summer house of the last architect of the Crown // 6‘Splendidly fertile and famous everywhere for its lemons’ // 12'The birds are here! The snails are here!' // 22 The Moon Beach // 27 Henna and golden yellow coins // 32 The grammar of decoration: Bellapais // 38Fallagusta and Salamis // 49Diplomatic circles // 59A small bag of salt and a terracotta phallus // 65Like a kiosk in the sea // 75Centre and periphery // 82On Troodos: of the Archangel Michael , King Farouk and Archur Rimbaud // 90Of the silkworms in Lapithos // 100A Byzantine excursion // 105The geckos of Bellapais // 116The return // 125 On the misery of division // 131Half of Lambousa // 140The cult stone of Kouklia // 149'What do you knowabout the difficulties of painting a glass?' // 155Famagusta, one more time // 164I have seen no more geckos // 167Three Poems by Niki Marangou // 173Three Poems by Jochim Sartorius // 177Acknowledgements // 178A note on place names // 179Selected reading

“A delightful book.”