Bromley poet publishes book that explores UK Cypriot heritage
By Molly Pavord
Maria Christodoulou’s A Disbelief of Flesh pays homage to the poet’s personal journey of self-discovery as a UK Cypriot, exploring and embracing her heritage.
The poems touch on a profound sense of grief at the loss of loved ones, a grief which comes in tandem to a transformative connection to the roots of the self, with themes of faith, identity and culture bought to the fore.
Ms Christodoulou said: “As I was writing the book I was dealing with the loss of my grandparents and other things that made me want to turn to my faith quite a bit”
“Flesh is to do with your skin, your identity and who are. That disbelief is me finding out more about myself, where I come from and understanding that it’s not all that I thought, there’s a lot more to it.”
In exploring ideas of marginalised identities, the poet highlights preconceived notions of Cypriots as divided between Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot.
She said: “When I was younger I noticed that a lot of people didn’t understand where I came from, people tend to see my surname and assume that I’m Greek. They tend to erase Cyprus as its own identity and its own culture, history and heritage.
“I always identified myself as Greek Cypriot but as I got older I realised that we shouldn’t be dividing ourselves between Greek and Turks.”
Christodoulou’s first encounter with UK-Cypriot poetry was with the poet Anthony Anaxagorou who inspired a lot of her work.
Speaking on his poetry, she said: “It helped me to understand my identity within poetry. It made me feel seen. When you find something you can relate to it feels really good.
“I thought it would be so wonderful if my poetry could do the same. Whether they’re Cypriot or not, showing people that those marginalised identities and cultures that aren’t always recognised can be recognised.”
A Disbelief of Flesh is out now and available to order from Out-Spoken Press: https://www.
(Picture: Maria Christodoulou)