Night is hunger for
light.
White vanish should
blow
blue.
I
want
you
to know
Tonight
Why
obey?
You could do more.
You smell
unspoken
As I walk
into your heart
barefoot
Finger rises.
Skin
parts from skin.
BIOGRAPHY
Cristina Eléni
Kontoglou
Cristina Eléni Kontoglou, grandniece of the Byzantine painter and writer F. Kontoglou, is an Italogreek street photographer, writer, translator, and artist living in Florence. She participates in solo and group exhibitions under the secondary name Eléni, and her video installations have been showcased in private galleries, such as the Claudio Nardi Architecture Studio in Florence.
She inherits an evocative language from photography and works as a French literature teacher in high schools and prisons. Her stories have appeared in magazines including
Minima et Moralia, l’Indiscreto, Calvario Magazine, Micorrize, and Poetarum Silva.
In 2023, she published the poetry collection “Volturno Arcano” with Eretica Edizioni, which was a finalist for the 2023 international Mario Luzi Prize. In the same year, “Agrimonia” was released by Fallone Editore.
In 2024, she placed third in the Alda Merini Prize with “Impuri riflessi”, which also received a special mention at the Premio Europa in Versi. She won the Domus section for poetry at the Seneca Prize and received an honorable mention at the International Penna d’Autore Prize.
In 2024, her second poetry collection, “Semiotica notturna”, was released by Pequod, receiving an honorable mention at the Buonarroti Prize and fifth place at the Shelley and Byron Prize.
In 2025, she won a prize with
an essay and translation of Marguerite Duras, receiving recognition with the I Murazzi Prize, published by L’Orma Editore in 2026, and was a finalist at the Città di Como Prize in the narrative section.
She won with “Exuvia”, a short film based on one of her stories, earning awards for Best Short Film, Direction, Cinematography, Screenplay, and second place for Soundtrack at the Corfu International Film Festival 2026, while also being a finalist at the Independent Short Festival in Los Angeles and the Aesthetica Film Festival in York.
In 2026, her polaroid books “Unsummering” (published by 99books) and “Spellbound” (published by Ursa Maior) were released, and she curated and wrote the texts for Francesco Sambati‘s photo book “Fifteen minutes”, also released in 2026.