Writers, writer-performers and other artists from Cyprus and abroad are sharing ways of writing,reading and performing literature through performances, workshops and parallel events. The festival combines words with both contemporary and traditional forms of expression, including theatre, technology, sound and music, spoken word, sound poetry, visual arts, and more. This year, among others, the festival collaborates with Xing the Line, one of the longest-running alternative initiatives of the London poetry scene, as well as with the London-based publisher Outspoken Press.
The full programme of the festival presents two main performance evenings with a long list of local and international participants, and is enriched with three creative workshops. Moreover, the programme of parallel events includes an interview with this year’s Guest of Honour Lydia Davis (Man Booker Prize 2013), the group performance from Ireland DIAL and an installation by Iris Colomb from the UK. Last but not least, the festival is hosting an Open Mic closing event, in collaboration with KENO publications.
WEDNESDAY 23/09
LYDIA DAVIS (Man Booker Prize 2013) / USA (ENG)
[Online Interview, via Zoom]
Coordinated by Maria A. Ioannou, Sardam festival’s artistic director
18:00-19:00
The festival opens with this year’s Guest of Honour, Lydia Davis, a unique opportunity for the public to meet the writer via Zoom,
in an exclusive live interview organized especially for Sardam Festival 2026, exploring the multi-layered and fascinating world of writing!
Lydia Davis is a renowned American writer and winner of the Man Booker Prize 2013, a prize which is considered the most prestigious
literary award after the Nobel Prize. Lydia Davis, known for her very short and incredibly witty stories, occasionally following an experimental approach,
has influenced many writers worldwide and her books have been loved by readers across the globe.
Free participation and open to audiences from all over the world.
If you want to register, please call 99558358 or send an email to arttitudecyprus@gmail.com (first come,first served).
THURSDAY 24/09
DIAL / IRELAND (ENG)
[Vinegar Factory / 34 Genethliou Mitella str, 3036, Limassol]
20:00-21:00
DIAL is a durational writing, performance and recording project, ongoing since 2021, by Christodoulos Makris, in partnership with
Diatribe Records and in cooperation with musicians Joanna Mattrey and Keith Lindsay.
The event is being carried out in collaboration with Culture Ireland, Ireland’s national agency for the promotion of the arts and culture.
Free admission / For reservations please call 99558358
FRIDAY 25/09
Workshop by Elena Agathokleous / Cyprus (GR)
Narrative Cartography–From Places and Identities to Live Storytelling
[Vinegar Factory / 34 Genethliou Mitella str, 3036, Limassol]
16:30-19:30
A workshop by Elena Agathokleous on cartographic practices focusing on the exploration of the relationship between identity and place,
examining the ways in which spatial routes are constructed and transformed into live personal storytelling.
Reservation required, please call 99558358 /Participation fee - 25 euro. Limited number of participants.
Conducted in greek.
GROUP EVENT I - LITERARY PERFORMANCES
[Sinergio Theatre / 91A Eleftherias str, 3042, Limassol]
20:00-21:30
Live performances by a selection of local and international participants (not in order of appearance):
Phoebe Giannisi (GR);
Maria-Sophia Christodoulou (CY/UK) & Maya Caspari (UK);
Nelmarie Du Preez (SA) & Maria Christodoulidou (CY);
Marios Agathokleous & Doros Georgiou (CY);
montenegrofisher (CHI/UK)
For reservations please call 99558358 / Admission Fee: 8 euro
SATURDAY 26/09
Workshop by Christos Chrissopoulos / Greece (GR)
Life Writing | Writing the Self
[Sinergio Theatre / 91A Eleftherias str, 3042, Limassol]
10:30-13:30
A creative writing group workshop following the principles of Narrative Therapy. The aim is productive: we investigate, reveal, create. It all leads to a literature which “doesn’t write for the self” but “writes the self” in a deliberate way, which one might say is what our essential relationship with writing is.
Reservation required, please call 99558358 /Participation fee - 25 euro. Limited number of participants.
Conducted in greek.
IRIS COLOMB / (UK)
Exhibition
Iris Colomb - Installation
[Tapper, 1st floor / 62 Eleftherias str, 3042, Limassol]
18:30-22:30
Iris Colomb produces poetic objects and practices text-based improvisation in collaboration with various experimental music ensembles. Her installation will feature an assemblage of textual objects she uses in her improvised performances with musicians.
The exhibition will be open to the public on 26 & 27 of September. / Free Admission. No reservation required.
GROUP EVENT II - LITERARY PERFORMANCES
[Sinergio Theatre / 91A Eleftherias str, 3042, Limassol]
20:00-21:30
Live performances by a selection of local and international participants:
Christos Chrissopoulos (GR);
Thanos Stathopoulos (GR);
Kinga Toth (HUN);
Feraia Nikolaou & Maria Christodoulou (CY)
Maria Kouvarou (m.ouv) (CY);
Jeff Hilson (UK)
Iris Colomb (UK).
For reservations please call 99558358 / Admission Fee: 8 euro
SUNDAY 27/09
Workshop with Jeff Hilson / (UK) (ENG)
“I Love You And The Sonnet Is Not Dead”: An Experimental Sonnet Workshop
[Sinergio Theatre / 91A Eleftherias str, 3042, Limassol]
16:00-19:00
An experimental creative writing workshop exploring innovative approaches to the sonnet, led by poet, editor and critic Jeff Hilson,
whose work has played a pivotal role in rethinking the contemporary sonnet (Jeff Hilson is also the editor of The Reality Street Book of Sonnets).
The workshop invites writers to challenge conventions while engaging with one of poetry’s most enduring forms.
Reservation required, please call 99558358 /Participation fee - 25 euro. Limited number of participants.
Conducted in english.
IRIS COLOMB / (UK)
Exhibition
Iris Colomb - Installation
[Tapper, 1st floor / 62 Eleftherias str, 3042, Limassol]
18:30-22:30
Iris Colomb produces poetic objects and practices text-based improvisation in collaboration with various experimental music ensembles.
Her installation will feature an assemblage of textual objects she uses in her improvised performances with musicians.
The exhibition will be open to the public on 26 & 27 of September. / Free Admission. No reservation required.
CLOSING: SARDAM OPEN MIC
[Sinergio Theatre / 91A Eleftherias str, 3042, Limassol]
19:30
Sardam festival’s Open Mic, in collaboration with KENO publications. The event is open to all languages.
For registrations for the Open Mic (as participants) and for reservations please call 99558358 / Free admission
Registration for the workshops, bookings for any of the events, or any other information: 99558358.
Admission fees
Per workshop: 25 euro (60 euro for all 3)
Group events of literary performances: 8 euro per night
All of this year’s parallel events are free of charge
The festival is funded by Culture III and Kypria programs of the Department of Contemporary Culture at the Deputy Ministry of Culture of Cyprus.
The selection committee for the festival’s Open Call for 2026 and 2027: Elena Agathokleous, Nicos Philippou and Konstantina Ioannidou.
Creative coder for this year’s festival: Anastasia Melandinou
Organisers: aRttitude
Main Sponsor: Department of Contemporary Culture, Deputy Ministry of Culture
Supporters/Collaborators: Culture Ireland, Xing the Line, Outspoken Press, Vivliotropio, K.P. Kyriakou Bookshops, KENO publications,
Limassol Book Fair, Sound and Beyond audio-visual services, Limassol Today