Last Hours in Pompeii is a lyrical manifesto of survival amidst the ruins of the postmodern world. Athens, the birthplace of "democracy", is already a lost city under the volcano of the future. The "second-class angels" who were "born with broken wings" functions as an existential subversion: it speaks of the value of those who do not meet the criteria of the paradise of normality. There is no romanticization of escape; there is a clear acceptance that migration, movement, escape is a biological, almost animalistic need. It is not redemption; it is a continuation of the species.
The Promised Land dissects the sterile architecture of success, portraying a society where identity is domesticated, and belonging requires bureaucratic and aesthetic obedience. It describes the life of Balkan people in countries of Central and Northern Europe. The struggle of adaptation, the conflicts of culture and survival issues in the altar for a new life.
The project is part of the subthemes Writing After – Catastrophe, Memory, and the Archive of Loss, Disrupted Realities – Poetry and the Politics of Truth.
Author
Thanos Soras
Thanos Soras is a graduate of the Law School of Athens. He was born in Piraeus, Greece, in 1992 and currently lives in Vienna, Austria. In October 2025, he published his poetry collection ''Dianatellontes'' (''Novastellars'') with Iolkos Publishers, which brought him immediate recognition. In November of the same year, he represented Greece at the EUNIC Literature Festival in Vienna, where he participated with the poems “Last Hours in Pompeii” and “The Promised Land.” Through his videography and spoken word projects, he explores ways of translating poetry into the language of the digital age.
