Memory Rehearsal presentation by Eleni Sikelianos, Poet and Author

In 1901, Eva Palmer abandoned her life as a privileged New York socialite, moving to Paris with her lover, the writer and salonist, Natalie Barney. The two Americans became the center of a wild tangle of lesbian love affairs and backyard performances based on intentional reimaginings of Sappho’s work and life. A chance encounter led Eva to Greece, where she married Angelos Sikelianos, a visionary poet who would become a Greek national hero. Celebrated American poet Eleni Sikelianos grew up knowing little of these illustrious ancestors, her great grandparents, who, in the early 20th century st…