The Czech poet Jaroslav Seifert (1901-1986) is as popular in his country as he is unknown in Greece. So, when he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1984, many wondered if he truly deserved it. Regardless of the distortion that the artistic spirit of an artist undergoes depending on whether it is judged by his own audience or that of another country, in Greece, the speculations about Seifert could not be substantiated due to lack of evidence. As far as I know, the only samples of his poetic creation were the twelve poems presented in translation by Giannis Ritsos in the "Anthology of Czech and Slovak Poets". Therefore, we must emphasize first and foremost that the Nobel Prize was awarded to Seifert for his entire literary contribution - thirty poetry collections from 1921 until his death in 1986, which differ significantly from each other. [...]
Karolos Tsitsikas