Lili Bita

Last updated

Lili Bita, or Lili Bita Zaller, was a Greek-American author, poet, translator, artist and drama teacher.

Contents

Biography

Lili Bita was born on the island of Zante (Zakynthos). She graduated from the Greek Conservatory of Athens and the Athens School of Drama, and performed on the Athens stage and with leading Greek repertory companies. In 1957 she emigrated to the Federal Republic of West Germany, and in 1959 to the United States, becoming a naturalized citizen in 1969. She earned an M.A in drama from the University of Miami in 1978. [1]

Bita pursued a dual career in the United States as actress and author, notably with her one-woman shows "The Greek Woman Through the Ages" and "Freedom or Death". She taught at numerous American universities, most recently at Villanova University (1989–91). [2] In 1987-88 she was Artist in Residence at Drexel University. [3] In 1995 she toured India, as a member of the International Foundation “European Art Center-EUARCE”, under the auspices of the Greek government, and returned there as part of the World Shakespeare Conference in 2002.

She offered master classes on the art of drama in more than fifty American universities. Her verse has been translated into English, French, German, Spanish, and Bengali. In 2014, she was elected to the Hellenic Authors Society, the oldest and most prestigious literary society in Greece.

Bita died on February 12, 2018, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. [4]

Early in her career, Anaïs Nin wrote of her: "Lili Bita fulfills her promise. . . . Her words are strong, body and soul in balance. Her vision is direct, unifying and complete."[ citation needed ]

Works

Prose fiction:

Poetry:

Autobiographical:

Translations:

Plays:

Anthology

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anaïs Nin</span> French-born American author (1903–1977)

Angela Anaïs Juana Antolina Rosa Edelmira Nin y Culmell was a French-born American diarist, essayist, novelist, and writer of short stories and erotica. Born to Cuban parents in France, Nin was the daughter of the composer Joaquín Nin and the classically trained singer Rosa Culmell. Nin spent her early years in Spain and Cuba, about sixteen years in Paris (1924–1940), and the remaining half of her life in the United States, where she became an established author.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Odysseas Elytis</span> Greek poet and art critic

Odysseas Elytis was a Greek poet, man of letters, essayist and translator, regarded as the definitive exponent of romantic modernism in Greece and the world. He is one of the most praised poets of the second half of the twentieth century, with his Axion Esti "regarded as a monument of contemporary poetry". In 1979, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marguerite Young</span> 20th-century American writer

Marguerite Vivian Young was an American novelist and academic. She is best known for her novel Miss MacIntosh, My Darling. In her later years, she was known for teaching creative writing and as a mentor to young authors. "She was a respected literary figure as well as a cherished Greenwich Village eccentric." During her lifetime, Young wrote two books of poetry, two historical studies, one collection of short stories, one novel, and one collection of essays.

<i>Delta of Venus</i> 1977 short story collection by Anaïs Nin

Delta of Venus is a book of fifteen short stories by Anaïs Nin published posthumously in 1977—though largely written in the 1940s as erotica for a private collector.

Rachel Dalven, also known as Rae Dalven, was a Romaniote writer who came to the United States as a child. She is best known for her translations of Cavafy's works, poems by other Romaniote Jewish writers, and for her books and plays about the Jews of Ioannina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dimitris Lyacos</span> Greek writer and playwright

Dimitris Lyacos is a contemporary Greek poet and playwright. He is the author of the Poena Damni trilogy. Lyacos's work is characterised by its genre-defying form and the avant-garde combination of themes from literary tradition with elements from ritual, religion, philosophy and anthropology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steven Reigns</span> American poet, artist and activist (born 1975)

Steven Reigns is an American poet, artist and activist known for his poetry publications, his work as West Hollywood's first City Poet, his participatory art projects, his LGBT activism, and his scholarly work on Anaïs Nin.

Robert Michael Zaller is an American author whose works include volumes of history, criticism, and verse. He is Drexel Distinguished University Professor of History Emeritus, and has been active as an opponent of the death penalty.

Willis Barnstone is an American poet, religious scholar, and translator. He was born in Lewiston, Maine and lives in Oakland, California. He has translated works by Jorge Luis Borges, Antonio Machado, Rainer Maria Rilke, Pedro Salinas, Pablo Neruda, and Wang Wei, as well as the New Testament and fragments by Sappho and pre-Socratic philosopher Heraclitus (Ἡράκλειτος).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eleni Sikelianos</span> American poet (born 1965)

Eleni Sikelianos is an American experimental poet with a particular interest in scientific idiom. She is Professor of Literary Arts at Brown University.

Maria Espinosa is an American novelist, poet, and translator.

Katerina Anghelaki-Rooke was a Greek poet, translator and lecturer.

Zaller is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:

Despina Pappa-Paschalidou was a Greek doll maker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">G. F. Zaimis</span> American Author, Writer & Poet, Thought Leader, Polymath, Serial Creative and Adviser

Ginger F. Zaimis is an American author, poet, polymath, thought leader, adviser, literary translator, friend of philosophy, photographer and serial creative who specializes in architectural forms. Her vision blurs the minimal to monumental, abstract to literal while re-connecting multi-disciplinary dialogues that reunite the Humanities and Sciences as a whole while integrating contemporary modernisms and comparative literature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taije Silverman</span> American poet, translator, and professor

Taije Silverman is an American poet, translator, and professor. She currently teaches at the Department of English at the University of Pennsylvania.

Lili (Julia) Paschalidou-Theodoridou was a Greek doll maker.

Britt Arenander is a Swedish translator, writer and journalist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iana Boukova</span>

Iana Boukova is a Bulgarian poet, novelist and essayist. Considered one of the most significant Bulgarian authors of the 21st century.

Karen Van Dyck is an American literary critic and translator. She is currently the Kimon A. Doukas Professor of Modern Greek Language and Literature in the Classics Department of Columbia University in the City of New York.

References

  1. ↑ "College of Arts and Sciences - Events Calendar". miami.edu. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
  2. ↑ http://blogs.citypaper.net/articles/2006/09/07/ReadingsBook-Signings%5B%5D
  3. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-04-30. Retrieved 2010-01-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. ↑ "Remembering Lili Bita, Greek-American Author and Actress". The National Herald. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
  5. ↑ "Downstairs at the Cornelia Street Cafe". corneliastreetcafe.com. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
  6. ↑ V. Theodorou, Rita Boumi-Pappas, Melpo Axioti, Lila Bita, Katerina Anghelaki-Rooke, Kiki Dimoula, J. Mastoraki, Eleni Fourtouni
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.