The aim of the poetry competition—and of the association more broadly—is to encourage participants, and especially young people, to express their experiences, aspirations, challenges, and needs through writing and art; to develop their artistic sensitivity and their role as active citizens with a critical outlook and social engagement; and to create cultural bridges through the participation of young people from countries of both the West and the Global South.

First Prize: €250 or a round-trip ticket Paris–Athens–Paris or Athens–Paris–Athens
Second Prize: €150
Third Prize: €100

The award ceremony will take place in autumn 2026 at 8:00 p.m. in Paris, where the texts or audio works of all participants will be presented, along with poems by Konstantinos Graham, testimonies from people who knew him, and musical works inspired by his life and work.

The jury, which will be announced in the coming period, will once again—this year as last year—be composed of academics, poets, publishers, from the fields of literature and the arts based in Greece, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

INTERNATIONAL POETRY COMPETITION Konstantinos Graham Poetry Prize – Prix de poésie Konstantinos Graham

The cultural association Association Konstantinos Graham, based in Paris, in collaboration with the non-profit cultural organization Restart Theater Athens and Aparsis Publishing, is organizing a Poetry Prize for young people aged 18–25. Participants are invited to submit either a poetic text of 2 or 3 pages or an audio file of up to 3 minutes, in Greek or English or French, or in all three languages, by 31 July 2026, to the email address:
prix.poesie.konstantinos.graham@proton.me

The prize is organized as a tribute to the memory of the young Greek-American poet and rapper Konstantinos Graham (1997–2017), who was born in Paris’s 12th arrondissement, where he also attended school. Konstantinos passed away at the age of 20, leaving behind a brief but highly promising poetic body of work, which was awarded in France and published in Greece (I Want to Become an Angel, Aparsis Editions, 2023).

According to theater critic and journalist Paul Ben Itzak (Paris – San Francisco):

‘This award reflects a mother’s desire to extend the life and dreams of her son and to heal the nightmares of other young people, which were also Konstantinos’ nightmares, channeling them into creation.’"

restart theater athens supports for a second year:

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS 31 JULY 2026

Poetry Prize Konstantinos Graham 2025 Βραβείο Ποίησης Κωνσταντίνος Γκράχαμ 2025

Prix de poésie Konstantinos Graham 2025

We were delighted to support this International Poetry Competition for young people aged 18–25 in 2025.

organized by the cultural association Association Konstantinos Graham in collaboration with the non-profit cultural organization Restart Theater Athens and Aparsis Editions.

The following prizes were awarded:

First Prize: €250 or a round-trip ticket Paris–Athens–Paris or Athens–Paris–Athens
Second Prize: €150
Third Prize: €100

The cultural association Association Konstantinos Graham organized a poetry prize as a tribute to the memory of the young Greek-American poet and rapper Konstantinos Graham (1997–2017), who was born in Paris’s 12th arrondissement, where he also attended school. Konstantinos passed away at the age of 20, leaving behind a brief but highly promising poetic body of work that was awarded in France and published in Greece (I Want to Become an Angel, Aparsis Editions, 2023).

The results of the Prize were as follows:

The First Prize was awarded to Mohamed Gassara, a 23-year-old Tunisian student studying in the city of Sfax, who participated with poems written in French and English, including two dedicated to the deeply afflicted Gaza.

The Second Prize was awarded to Melia Anna Poulastidis, aged 22, a graduate of the Department of Primary Education at the University of Ioannina, who participated with poems written in both Greek and English.

The Third Prize was awarded to Aïchata Coulibaly, aged 23, a PhD candidate in Senegal at the University of Dakar, who submitted a poem written in French.

The jury also awarded three honorary mentions to the following participants:
Sarah Khemiri, aged 23, from Paris, who participated with a poetic text in English;
Dimitra Anagnostouli, also known as Jessica, who participated with a Greek-language text recorded and musically processed by herself;
Konstantinos Papathanasiou, aged 18, a high school graduate from Athens, who participated with texts written in Greek.

The award ceremony took place at 8:00 p.m. in Paris at the municipal venue Maison de la Vie Associative et Citoyenne (181, Avenue Daumesnil, 75012 Paris, 12th arrondissement). Texts and audio works by all participants were presented, along with poems by Konstantinos Graham, testimonies from people who knew him, and musical works inspired by his life and work.

The event was enriched by the presence and readings of Aïnta Karantza, Nadia Choukroune, Michel Cassir, Marc Moreigne, Anastasia Christoulaki, and Anastassia Politi. The event was organized by the association in collaboration with the non-profit cultural organization Restart Theater Athens and Aparsis Publishing.

The countries of origin of the participants were France, Greece, Tunisia, and Senegal. The languages of expression were French, English, and Greek. The jury consisted of academics, poets, publishers, and figures from the fields of literature and the arts based in Greece, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

2025 JURY:

Anastasia Politi - director, actress, FR

Philippe Blanchard -acousmatic music composer, FR

Marc Moreigne - critic, writer, FR

Aida Karanxha -translator, interpreter, FR

Stella Apostolaki - visual artist, GR

Eleni Karasavvidou - University of Ioannina, GR

Smaragda Papadopoulou- Mantadaki - author, Professor of International University of Greece, GR

Angeliki Kasola - director /Restart Theater Athens, GR

Irini Mela -actress / Restart Theater Athens, GR

Julie Ward - Arts in Education Adviser & former Vice-Chair of the Culture and Education Committee of the European Parliament, UK

Cecilia Woloch -director, writer, USA

Dominique Guilbert - social worker, FR

Michel Cassir -poet, university researcher, editor, FR

George Efstathiou -editor, GR

The Competition was announced during the presentation of the trilingual theatrical and musical staged reading production of Konstantinos Graham's book "I want to be an Angel" (GR, EN, FR) at Restart Theater Athens, on February 28, 2025, in Athens, Greece. This tri-lingual production was organized by RTA (GR) and co-organised by "Konstantinos Graham" Cultural Association (FR) and Aparsis Editions (GR).

Want to see photos and information about this unique musical theatre play?

Αssociation Konstantinos Graham

Αssociation Konstantinos Graham

68, boulevard Soult, 75012, Paris, France

Tel : 0033(0) 601286648

e-mail: asso.konstantinos.graham@proton.me

The Konstantinos Graham Association was founded in November 2023 in Paris, France, by Konstantinos Graham's mother, actress/director Anastasia Politis and acoustic music composer Philippe Blanchard, in memory of the young Greek-American poet and rapper Konstantinos Graham (1997-2017). Its aim is to promote the arts and letters and to create bonds of friendship through the organisation of artistic events and cultural activities - in particular the organisation of a trilingual poetry competition entitled:

Konstantinos Graham Poetry Prize - Prix de poésie Konstantinos Graham - Poetry prize Konstantinos Graham.

The association may also propose the production of theatrical or musical performances, poetry events, the organisation of exhibitions, analogies, artistic workshops and seminars, the publication of books or magazines, lectures and public debates, screenings and other multimedia events.

did you know?

Konstantinos Graham is no longer with us.

In his short time on earth, he left behind some beautiful writings—his thoughts on life and literature, his existential concerns, and a great poem in which he captured his anxieties, hopes, bitterness, and expectations.

A musician, actor, and poet, he was (for those who knew and loved him, he still is) a being full of ideas, clever and radiant. A highly promising and extraordinarily sensitive young creator, who, had he lived longer, would have amazed us with his work.

Konstantinos also had—how could it have been otherwise?—social and political concerns. Those who carefully read the book, where his mother, Anastasia Politi, actress and director, lovingly gathered his writings and many photographs of him, will come to know a wonderful young artist. Alongside his own writings, you will read the heartbreaking text by Anastasia, where, without exaggeration or sentimental ease, she recorded the story of her child and shared with us her soul—the anguished soul of a mother who saw her child fade away in her arms."

Maro Triantafyllou

Konstantinos Graham (1997 – 2017)

A young Greek-American rapper and actor who lived until the age of twenty between Paris, Montpellier, and California, with frequent visits to Greece—the last one in Tinos in 2016. He wrote songs and poems in three languages, read Plato, Epicurus, and Gandhi, studied the saxophone, and recited in French the lyrics of Pavlos Fyssas, Mattia Eckar, and Andreas Empirikos.

Konstantinos contributed to the documentary-theatre performance: "Pavlos Lives, Greece Resists," dedicated to Pavlos Fyssas, which was presented at the Antoine Vitez Municipal Theatre in Ivry in 2016 by the artistic group Irinna. As an actor-narrator, he participated in the performances: "Gypsy Poem" and "Song of Light," staged by the artistic group Compagnie Erinna in Montpellier in 2017.

In his writings, Konstantinos sought roots and meaning in life during the era of globalization, set against the backdrop of family breakdown, romantic disappointment, social injustice, and encounters with troubled youth. He searched for childhood innocence and the transcendence of limits. He expressed a thirst for love and freedom, for a sense of sacredness regardless of religion, within a relentlessly cynical world that creates suicides.

"Every now and then / De temps en temps / Πότε πότε"
is a trilingual poem by Konstantinos, which won the international poetry competition for young people aged 18-25, Mattia Eckar 2017, and was published in the “Anthology of Young Writers – Volume 9” by the Academy of Montpellier in Southern France, edited by Marie Gola.

Konstantinos Graham (1997 – 2017)