Princes' Islands

Joachim Sartorius is a poet, translator, and cultural critic. 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 hewas director of the Berlin Festival. He is the author of The Geckos of Bellapais and a forthcoming book on the city of Syracuse, in Sicily.

• 1'Stamboul, with all its sea-suburbs and sea-lanes' // 15A feast at Prinkipo // 25The world's balcony // 39John Pasa's villa // 51Saint George and the Raku // 63Room with ferryboats // 67Sait Faik's Island // 79Crystal chandelier on a wooden cart // 93The point and the flat // 103Kamariotissa // 113Acknowledgements 115Bibliography

'This book is a ravishing account of the enchantment of a poet by the landscape, rekindling in us the wish to buy a ticket at once and embark for the islands' -Orhan Pamuk