Cyprus State Literary Prize for Poetry awarded to Dr Eleni Kefala

Dr Eleni Kefala, Senior Lecturer in the School of Modern Languages' Department of Spanish, has been awarded the poetry prize at this year's Cyprus State Literary Competition.

The award was announced 14 November 2025; the Cypriot Deputy Minister for Culture, Dr Lina Kassianidou, will present the awards at a ceremony 15 December 2025.

Dr Kefala was awarded the prize for her most recent poetry collection, Direct Orient - published by Perispomeni Publications in 2024.

Dr Kefala's poetry has been translated into English, Bulgarian, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Turkish. Her debut poetry collection, Memory and Variations (Μνήμη και παραλλαγές, 2007) was shortlisted for the prestigious Diavázo Literary Awards in Greece (First Book Award). This is the second occasion on which Dr Kefala has received the State Literary Prize - having previously won for her second book, Time Stitches (Χρονορραφία, 2013).