ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Effie Pasagiannis is a Greek-American lawyer and writer based in New York City. Her poems have been published in various journals and anthologies such as Snapdragon Journal, The Write Launch, Platform Review, Anti-Heroin Chic, the Raw Art Review, Pen + Brush In Print Issue 1, and Stanford University’s Mantis Press (Poetry & Protest, April 2019).
Anagnorisis (Greek: “Recognition”), published by Dancing Girl Press in 2020, is Effie’s first collection of poems focusing on universal themes of loss, alienation, struggle and transcendence. The book can be found via the publisher’s website and at Book Culture, an indie bookstore in NYC. Effie just completed two poetry chapbooks, Our Perfect Offering (a collection of villanelle poems) forthcoming by Dancing Girl Press in 2023, and The Passage (inspired by the life and paintings of American surrealist Kay Sage) forthcoming by Finishing Line Press in 2023. She is also writing a collection of short stories with female protagonists at a crossroads. One of these short stories, Sweet Nothings of a Foreign Exchange, was published in Feminine Collective’s September 2018 issue. Another short story, Fennec Fox on the Promontory, is being adapted into a feature length film by Nomadis Images.
Effie has performed in New York City venues including the Bowery Poetry Club, Arlo Hotels, The Assemblage, Pen + Brush, Powerhouse Books and Poets House. In February 2020, she curated a poetry micro-event and performed at the opening night of “Occupy Project #1" at the Greek Consulate in New York. Most recently in August 2022, she was invited to read poems with the theme memory in beautiful Elizabeth Street Garden as part of McNally Jackson Books summer poetry series.
ANAGNORISIS
This is Effie’s first collection of poems (Dancing Girl Press, January 2020) encapsulating the journey through struggle to self concept clarity. It is equally applicable to our collective journey, moving from the experience of loss, to questioning the status quo, before all is revealed and we awaken to a transcendent and meaningful existence. The title Anagnorisis (Greek: “recognition”) in a literary work refers to the startling discovery that produces a change from ignorance to knowledge. It is discussed by Aristotle in “Poetics” as an essential part of the plot of a tragedy, although anagnorisis occurs in comedy, epic, and, at a later date, the novel as well. Anagnorisis usually involves revelation.
This collection is divided into three parts: Agonas (struggle); Aporia (questioning); and Anastasis (rebirth/transcendence).
“Every secret of a writer’s soul, every experience of his life, every quality of his mind, is written large in his works.”
Virginia Woolf
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MANTIS (STANFORD UNIVERSITY)
Poetry + Protest
In April 2019, two of Effie’s political poems “Fine American Morning” and “On Mango Trees in the Dead of Night” were featured in Mantis (Stanford University), in their Poetry + Protest print issue.
PEN + BRUSH IN PRINT (ISSUE 1)
In 2018, Effie’s poems Metamorphosis and Rebirth were published in Pen + Brush’s inaugural print issue. A celebratory reading and book launch was held in Pen + Brush’s gallery space in the Flatiron District.
WHAT KEEPS US HERE (ANTI-HEROIN CHIC LITERARY & ART JOURNAL)
In January 2019, My Name is Melancholy and Rebirth appeared in Anti-Heroin Chic’s inaugural print issue “What Keeps Us Here.” Effie curated, hosted and performed at the book launch event held at PowerHouse Books in Dumbo, Brooklyn.
THE RAW ART REVIEW WINTER 2019 ISSUE
Three poems “The Apathetic Children,” “If We Could Only Slow It Down” and “Metamorphosis” appeared in The Raw Art Review’s Winter 2019 issue.
GRAVITAS JOURNAL (VOLUME 18 ISSUE 1)
Effie’s work was also featured in Gravitas Poetry Journal, among many others.
PUBLICATIONS & PRESS
PEN + BRUSH BOOK LAUNCH FEATURING EFFIE PASAGIANNIS
