Diane Helentjaris

Diaspora Diane Helentjaris

Poems of forging an American life. In 1910 Anastasius, in defiance of his father, immigrates from Greece to the United States. Diaspora speaks powerfully of the aftermath. Poverty, wars, miscommunications, new roles for women emerge. The family struggles to bridge the challenges of time and distance in the age before modern technology knit the world together. The word "diaspora" comes from the Greek term for "to scatter." Today new immigrants scatter across the globe. Diane Helentjaris, in her debut chapbook, shares the story of one of the many immigrants who went before them. Poetry lovers - teens and adults - with an interest in family, justice, immigration, women's history, and modern Greece will enjoy this strongly themed collection.