Agapi & Other Kinds of Love, is poet & rapper Luka Lesson's verse novel inspired by Plato's Symposium.
Socrates is telling a banquet of friends everything he learned from a mysterious lover named Diotima. The gods then take the reader on a journey - collapsing time to arrive in modern day Athens, where two reincarnations of the ancient lovers fall in love (again) in the midst of a riot, beneath the shadows of the Acropolis.
The lovers, both modern and ancient, then encounter the 7 kinds of love: Eros, Storgy, Filoxenia, Philautia, Filia, Pragma and the ultimate: Agapi. Self-love, erotic love, the love of the stranger, familial love and more, all collide with marble statues of Aphrodite, protestor's chants and the Parthenon's steps.
Equal parts rap novella and classical history lesson, Agapi & Other Kinds of Love shows us how love prevails despite the trials and tribulations of the ages.
"Luka never fails to delight in this vibrant and beautiful dive into love" Omar Sakr
"Luka is a genuine artist of high quality whose poetry is powerful and poignant. I salute his prophetic witness" Dr Cornel West
"Agapi & Other Kinds of Love is a romance throughout space and time told in rolling verse. With an excellent rhythm and natural flow, the story expertly weaves the stories together through time. I enjoyed watching the two sets of lovers experience the forms of love and realize the impact that their love can have. I especially loved the notes that Chaos adds on at the end, bringing additional insight and humor." Anonymous Review
Agapi & Other Kinds of Love is a project from Luka Lesson, taking the form this book, a studio album and a live show. In 2022 the live show of Agapi & Other Kinds of Love, premiered at the National Museum of Australia during their exhibition Ancient Greeks: Athletes, Warriors & Heroes.
About the Author:
Luka Lesson is a poet, rapper and educator of Greek heritage. His work crosses between the history of his family homeland, the fiercely political and the vulnerably self-reflective. Luka has featured at the mecca for slam poetry: the Nuyorican Poet's Cafe (NYC), performed with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and toured with respected UK rappers Akala & Lowkey. Luka has released two collections of poetry independently: The Future Ancients (2013) & Antidote (2015) and two poetic rap albums: Please Resist Me (2012) & EXIT (2014).
Luka's work has also been featured in publications such as: Poems From A Green And Blue Planet (2019, Hachette), and Solid Air (2019, UQP). Luka has been a poet-in-residence at the Scottish Poetry Library, appeared at the Edinburgh Literature Festival, Sydney Writers' Festival and many more. Luka has also taken the stage at festivals such as Splendour in the Grass, 4E Hiphop Festival & OneBlood Festival.
Luka uses poetry and rap writing workshops as a form of activism, helping young people to articulate and perform their work for the past 15 years in education centres worldwide, amplifying countless marginalised voices in the process. Luka's poems and rap verses are being studied on official school curriculums throughout Australia, and unofficially by rebellious educators worldwide.
In 2018, Luka established a creative company, The Future Ancients to house his major works.
Agapi & Other Kinds of Love is published by The Future Ancients.
