tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61461122011-07-07T23:28:08.183+03:00This blog has moved! Visit my new space at <a href="http://www.kathrynkoromilas.com">http://kathrynkoromilas.com</a>kathrynnoreply@blogger.comBlogger851100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1146743529322422212006-05-04T14:52:00.000+03:002006-05-04T14:53:08.243+03:00

Kathryn Koromilas

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com41tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1144322968201907272006-04-06T14:28:00.000+03:002006-04-06T14:29:28.210+03:00

I'm moving here.It's hard moving. Give me strength! Send me a comment!See you over there.

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1139863440541174802006-02-13T22:35:00.000+02:002006-02-13T22:44:00.553+02:00

[From Report to Greco, Faber and Faber, 1973, p174]Would we moderns, I wondered, ever in our turn achieve the balance and the serene, heroic vision of the ancient Greeks? Every pilgrim, after he disengages himself from his Olympic dream, after he emerges through the museum door and faces the sun of our own day, surely, and with anguish, must pose this basic question to himself. For us Greeks,

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1139861233487562752006-02-13T20:03:00.001+02:002006-02-13T22:07:13.500+02:00

[Clarification of previous quote]Well, Panos found the source of the quote. It appears in Kazantzakis's Travels to Japan and China. I've only got a Greek copy in front of me - have no idea if it has been translated into English - and Kazantzakis is on his way to Kyoto, expectant, and contemplative on the joys of travel. The quote comes at the end of a paragraph that discusses the "

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1139739951312473992006-02-12T12:24:00.000+02:002006-02-12T12:25:51.893+02:00

Every perfect traveler always creates the country where he travels

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1139655219842662212006-02-11T12:53:00.000+02:002006-02-11T12:57:56.146+02:00

Charlie Williams launched KING OF THE ROAD, the third installment of his "Mangel trilogy." The notorious Steve Kane was present.

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1139637665753566382006-02-11T07:45:00.000+02:002006-02-11T08:01:05.763+02:00

Since we cannot change reality, let us change the eyes which see reality. Nikos Kazantzakis

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1139553152643608892006-02-10T08:26:00.000+02:002006-02-10T08:32:32.660+02:00

Leading up to the great man's birthday on February 18 thought I'd spend the next few days reading up on him. I'll post a quote a day, kicking off with his most famous one. One that appears on t-shirts in the tourist stores in Plaka. I expect nothing. I fear no one. I am free. - Nikos KazantzakisOf course, Nikos, I think, struggled to achieve this sense of freedom. He really really wanted to be

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1139472881052209152006-02-09T10:14:00.000+02:002006-02-09T10:27:50.940+02:00

Found this comment and thought it was fitting. It dates back to 1905 and was spoken by a Swedish journalist, Johan Janzon, at the "Tenth International Congress of the Press" first published in The Athanaeum, London, I found it in the journal American Journalism Vol 22, No. 1.There is nothing so foolish as a duel. For the man who insults another, not the man who is insulted, is dishonoured.

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1139419160209811952006-02-08T19:19:00.000+02:002006-02-08T19:22:19.036+02:00

This article by Lewis Owens was published in the Philosopher's Magazine in January 2003.Nikos Kazantzakis: a snapshotLewis OwensAlthough many may be familiar with the novels Zorba the Greek and The Last Temptation of Christ, both of which have been adapted into films, few are as familiar with their author, Nikos Kazantzakis. Although Kazantzakis has a large following in the United States, and is

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1139343595797112332006-02-07T22:19:00.000+02:002006-02-07T22:24:07.590+02:00

Friend and documentary-maker extraordinaire, Angelike Contis, has a new work-in-progress called Muttumentary, a mini-documentary about the lives of eight Athenian dogs. This comes as Athens is learning to become more responsible about the stray dog population in the modern-ancient city.

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1139130923460497432006-02-05T11:15:00.000+02:002006-02-05T11:15:23.543+02:00

US Embassy spies on Greek telephone calls. Naturally, the "government attempted to quell speculation yesterday that foreign agents were behind the eavesdropping," but "location of the snooping phones has given rise to speculation that American secret agents were involved, since the US Embassy is within the area defined by the four masts."Full article from KathimeriniProbe into phone spying begins

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1134507729709698782005-12-13T23:02:00.000+02:002005-12-13T23:02:09.766+02:00

Harold Pinter's Nobel Lecture is live on the Nobel Prize site. There's also a link to a 46 minute video of him reading his lecture. He couldn't make the ceremony. Very very worth the time to sit and listen to it. Or read it. HTML link here PDF link here High bandwidth video link here Low bandwidth video link here Highlights: In 1958 I wrote the following: 'There are no hard

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1134401984214672992005-12-12T17:39:00.000+02:002006-02-08T09:53:10.376+02:00

My dad always maintained that the Greek gods were alive and kicking after all these years, but he never told me they were in New York!Well, according to "Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief" a children's fantasy novel written by Rick Riordan the Greek gods migrated from Mount Olympus to the US because they have moved with "the heart of the West," which was first in Athens, then

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1134371598979973952005-12-12T09:13:00.000+02:002005-12-12T09:13:19.046+02:00

What fun! Another Julia Kristeva novel, Murder in Byzantium From the Columbia University Press website: Murder in Byzantium A Novel Julia Kristeva Translated by C. Jon Delogu "This is a novel of which we have not seen the like since Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose" —Bernard-Henri Levy, Le Point "Julia Kristeva gives us a stimulating, joyous book. In a word, a great Byzantine novel." —

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1133939095111266582005-12-07T09:04:00.000+02:002005-12-07T09:08:52.776+02:00

Description of Dating Aphrodite: Modern Adventures in the Ancient World by Luke Slattery'Greece has a profound and permanent message to mankind; it is humane and progressive and affects not only art but the whole of life.' Australian classicist Gilbert Murray 'Dating Aphrodite' is a modern celebration of the classics of ancient Greece and ancient Rome - their wisdom and humour, as well as the

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1132391436256769052005-11-19T11:10:00.000+02:002005-11-19T11:13:28.553+02:00

The Names, Don DeLillo's 1982 novel set in Greece, is today's review from Powells.com.Something about setting a novel in modern Greece seems to do wonders for good novelists. Perhaps the ancient ruins or the stark, revealing light, contrasted with the modern culture and potent political history, makes for particularly rich material. The Chicago Sun-Times compared this novel to John Fowles's The

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1132348869108821582005-11-18T23:21:00.000+02:002005-11-18T23:24:34.856+02:00

Not only do Greeks have the most expensive internet access in Europe, but OTE (phone company that owns the phone lines) was set to increase connection charges by "75 percent during the day and 500 percent for those wishing to surf at night", we were informed a few days ago. Basically the company wanted to gently push dialup users to ADSL (not to mention bring in the income to fund its voluntary

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1132119620914570582005-11-16T07:40:00.000+02:002005-11-16T07:40:20.990+02:00

...the EU accused of cooking the books (again) according to The Times. And Greece (what, only Greece?) was singled out for criticism, where olive farmers claimed for trees that don’t exist, goat farmers claim for goats that don’t exist, and official inspectors fabricate inspections. One Greek farmer claimed subsidies for 239 sheep lost to wolves and disease, but was unable to explain how he

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1131576103773203402005-11-10T00:41:00.000+02:002005-11-10T00:41:43.816+02:00

There are many reasons why novelists write, but they all have one thing in common - a need to create an alternative world. - John Fowles An answer is always a form of death. - John Fowles The basis of shame is not some personal mistake of ours, but the ignominy, the humiliation we feel that we must be what we are without any choice in the matter, and that this humiliation is seen by everyone.

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1129968597901077862005-10-22T11:09:00.000+03:002005-10-22T11:09:57.900+03:00

Stuart Kelly writes about lost books for The Australian. He asks: Is becoming lost the worst that can happen to a book? Not necessarily. The lost book, like the person you never dared ask to the dance, becomes infinitely more alluring simply because it can be perfect only in the imagination. Some lost books he mentions: Homer, Margites IN the fourth chapter of his On the Art of Poetry,

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1129968197655188002005-10-22T11:03:00.000+03:002005-10-22T11:03:17.703+03:00

Sarah Lewers of the Guymon Daily Herald writes that werewolf myths date back to ancient Greece. Grecian myths hold the Arcadian king Lycaon served the god Zeus human flesh in an attempt to kill him. Zeus, the Greek's most powerful god, recognized the trick and condemned Lycaon to live the rest of his life as a wolf. The term “lycanthrope,” used to describe werewolves, derives from the Greek “

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1129204550344457862005-10-13T14:55:00.000+03:002005-10-13T14:55:50.403+03:00

Harold Pinter "who in his plays uncovers the precipice under everyday prattle and forces entry into oppression's closed rooms" wins the Nobel Lit 2005. Everyone is happily surprised and I'm all teary eyed and suddenly nostalgic. So I thought I'd post an old article of mine, an article about the time I spent Searching for Harold Pinter in Athens. Searching for Harold Pinter in Athens KATHRYN

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1128925174497124972005-10-10T09:19:00.000+03:002005-10-10T09:19:34.503+03:00

Jonathan Thompson for the Independent refers to a new book that claims that "the real Helen was a powerful Bronze Age princess, living in the Greek city-state of Sparta around 1250BC" and not the "beautiful, dewy-eyed blonde princess from pre-Raphaelite paintings" we've come to know and love. The book is Helen of Troy: Goddess, Princess, Whore and the author is Bettany Hughes. Helen: A Real

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1127046367304502992005-09-18T15:26:00.000+03:002005-09-18T15:42:28.113+03:00

The Independent said this about Petros Markaris's The Late-Night News (UK title) or Deadline in Athens (US title):It took a while for Athenian cop Inspector Haritos to reach us, but raise a glass of ouzo now he's here. A gridlocked winter Athens is the far-from-mythical setting for linked tales of murder at the top (the TV elite) and toe (Albanian migrants) of new Greek society. Strongly written,

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1127045106998496162005-09-18T15:05:00.000+03:002005-09-18T15:08:53.036+03:00

Reading about the premiere of Philip Glass's opera Waiting for the Barbarians in Erfurt, Germany on September 10 (which has already been added to the Wikipedia reference! speedy!), I was reminded that I had read Cavafy in Greek before I arrived in Greece. Glass's opera is based on JM Coetzee's book of the same title, a title borrowed from Constantine Cavafy's poem "Waiting for the Barbarians".So

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1126988337183343632005-09-17T23:18:00.000+03:002005-09-17T23:18:57.256+03:00

So, one of the first books I read (in full) in Greek was a book I could not read in English at that precise time because it was translated from the French into Greek before it was translated into English. And that book is Milan Kundera's Ignorance, or Η 'Αγνοια του Μίλαν Κούντερα. I read it in Greek in December, 2001 and it became available for English readers after that. I think early 2002? I

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1126897664742035482005-09-16T22:07:00.000+03:002005-09-16T22:11:53.726+03:00

Wondering how many books I've read in Greek. I arrived in Greece in August 1998 and couldn't read newspaper headlines. Because I've always been a book addict I'd hang around the second-hand stores in Thisseio and browse and buy books I'd not read very soon. One of the first Greek books that I bought on Greek soil was Lily Zografou's novel Profession: Whore. [ΛΙΛΗ ΖΩΓΡΑΦΟΥ ΕΠΑΓΓΕΛΜΑ: ΠΟΡΝΗ] It's

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1126790637174258912005-09-15T16:23:00.000+03:002005-09-15T16:27:40.386+03:00

English language Kathimerini reports:Mild September evenings are perfect for a visit to the annual outdoor book fair on Dionysiou Areopagitou Street, beneath the Acropolis.Hundreds of publishers are participating in the fair, which is organized by the Publishers’ League (SEKB). The theme is “Greek Books in the World” and there will be a special exhibit of a panorama of Greek books in translation

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1121289960122256112005-07-14T00:26:00.000+03:002005-07-14T00:28:10.403+03:00

(1) Imagine it's 2015. You are visiting the library at a major research university. You go over to a computer terminal (or whatever it is they use in 2015) that gives you immediate access to any book or journal article on any topic you want. What do you look up? In other words, what do you hope somebody will have written in the meantime?Well not written but discovered and published...the last

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1121080470377813672005-07-11T14:14:00.000+03:002005-07-11T14:17:23.336+03:00

This is a great collection of short stories by Tom Saunders available at Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com.My Amazon review:Tom Saunders has tuned into the deep dark secrets of our world, of happiness and sadness, and has articulated them in the stories collected in "Brother, what strange place is this?". The title story with the brother Griffin jumping out of a window only to survive and end up in an

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1120342210332114212005-07-03T01:10:00.000+03:002005-07-03T01:10:10.383+03:00

Christos Tsiolkas speaks with Richard Watts.

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1119543782907545562005-06-23T19:23:00.000+03:002005-06-23T19:23:02.996+03:00

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1118951122704158502005-06-16T22:45:00.000+03:002005-06-16T22:47:18.053+03:00

Answering thalassa_mikra's tag.Total Number of Books I Own: I counted over 250 books on my bookshelf here in Greece. This bookshelf dates back to 2000. There are many more books back in Sydney. Most of which are in boxes and some on a bookshelf in my folks' home. Last Book I Bought: Deadfolk by Charlie Williams. (It's in the mail.)Waiting, in my Amazon.co.uk shopping basket, to be bought:Granta

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1118412216829791892005-06-10T17:03:00.000+03:002005-06-10T17:05:14.613+03:00

Kathimerini reports:The state-run National Book Center of Greece (EKEBI) has run up debts of 3 million euros, Deputy Culture Minister Petros Tatoulis said yesterday. Partly to blame for the bill is Greece’s participation in the 2001 Frankfurt Book Fair at a cost of 10 million euros — of which EKEBI still owes 600,000 euros, Tatoulis said. The minister was speaking at a press conference EKEBI had

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1118300005966314902005-06-09T09:44:00.000+03:002005-06-09T09:53:25.966+03:00

Dr.George Kanarakis writes an overview of Greek-Australian literature for The Cud. He goes back a hundred years to the oral poetics of Nikos Kallinikos and Nikos Paizis, both from the island of Ithaca, to the very first Australian-Greek newspaper called Afstralia where prose pieces (Greek-language short stories) by the Cypriot George Nicolaides, appeared in 1913, to the very first written poetry

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1118298847691080092005-06-09T09:15:00.000+03:002005-06-09T12:42:19.386+03:00

Science Daily reports on University of Liverpool's Dr Karen Ni-Mheallaigh's research into the tradition of fantasy in ancient literature beginning with Odysseus' "fantastic travels in Homer's Odyssey." She examines "theories of modern science fiction writing and how these can be applied to texts from the ancient world." Dr Ni-Mheallaigh is basically studying the work of 2nd century AD writer,

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1118125673106045872005-06-07T09:27:00.000+03:002005-06-07T09:29:08.323+03:00

Looking good is Christos Tsiolkas's third novel Dead Europe. Read the Australian review of the book by the Australian-Greek author who wrote the fab Loaded (made into a film by Anna Kokkinos and starring Alex Dimitriades).Synopsis:Isaac is a photographer in his mid-thirties, travelling through Europe. It is the post-Cold War Europe of a united currency, illegal immigration and of a globalised

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1118124070041703942005-06-07T09:01:00.000+03:002005-06-07T09:05:47.423+03:00

I'm thinking of doing a "Last Days of Kostas Karyotakis" thing. Um. That is, to do a walkthrough of the few weeks leading up to his suicide in Preveza back in 1928. (I live in Preveza so the subject of Karyotakis is, rather, dear to me.) He arrived on June 20 in 1928. So, on June 20 2005, I'm going to blog his last days. [If you want an email reminder on the day post a comment or send me an

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1118052866311444282005-06-06T13:14:00.000+03:002005-06-06T13:23:01.803+03:00

Albanian born, Tirana University educated, and political refugee Ismail Kadare was awarded the inaugural Man Booker International Prize on June 2.What the judges said:"Ismail Kadaré is a writer who maps a whole culture - its history, its passion, its folklore, its politics, its disasters. He is a universal writer in a tradition of storytelling that goes back to Homer."What Kadare said: "I feel

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1117311263100369192005-05-28T23:14:00.000+03:002005-05-28T23:23:51.020+03:00

I'm so hyped by this. Due out in October 2005, Margaret Atwood's The Penelopiad tells the myth of Penelope and Odysseus. About the book [from the Canadian Random House site]:The story of Penelope — as told by herself.In The Odyssey, Penelope — daughter of King Icarius of Sparta, and the cousin of the beautiful Helen of Troy — is portrayed as the quintessential faithful wife. Atwood’s dazzling

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1116952797374059792005-05-24T19:39:00.000+03:002005-05-24T19:39:57.373+03:00

Douglas Anders aka The Hellenophile encourages us to read North of Ithaka by Eleni Gage, daughter of Nicholas Gage who wrote Eleni. Read about it here.

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1116951765255393812005-05-24T19:22:00.000+03:002005-05-24T19:30:03.646+03:00

Mark Dragoumis has written an article for the Athens News on surrealist poet Μίλτος Σαχτούρης -- Miltos Sahtouris (or Sachtouris) who died earlier this year.Mark begins: MILTOS SACHTOURIS (1919-2005), a Greek surrealist poet obsessed with the darker side of life (and death), passed away on March 17 at the ripe old age of 86. In his four-line depiction of his own end entitled The Poet (translated

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1116765686699175812005-05-22T15:41:00.000+03:002005-05-24T15:02:39.526+03:00

I just checked out the Vivliothiki literary supplement that comes with Greek daily Eletherotypia on a Friday and discover that it is 75 years since the death of poet Maria Polydouri. And so, they've got a whole lot of articles on her and her work. * Lived 1902-1930 (Died of some illness...I should look this up.) ADDITION: She had tuberculosis, but according to this site, "she killed herself, on

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1114675255630356692005-04-28T11:00:00.000+03:002005-04-28T11:09:29.103+03:00

I've upload a few of my Athens photos at Tiscali. I may add more if I go through all my boxes of photos and scan them. These were the only I had in digital form on my hard drive. The shrine pic isn't in Athens at all. I can't remember where that is.The photo I've posted here was first published in the Athens News. It accompanied a piece I wrote on Mets, which you can view here.

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1114611012402358802005-04-27T17:10:00.000+03:002005-04-27T17:10:12.403+03:00

The answer to Quiz #5 is Grigorios Palaiologos or Γρηγόριος Παλαιολόγος (1794-1844). His literary work had been ignored for 150 years until the summer of 1989 when Manolis Anagnostakis, head of Nefelis house, published the first lot of previously unknown works, found in a collection belinging to the Vikelea Library of Heraklion. A few months later Hermes published more works. The two novels

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1114260224079336032005-04-23T15:43:00.000+03:002005-04-23T15:45:52.123+03:00

OK. Time for another quiz "borrowed" from today's edition of Greek daily Ta Nea. A strange thing occurred in the Greek literary world at around 1990. Three publishing houses—Hermes, Nefeli and the Ourani Foundation—published the same two novels at roughly the same time. Both novels had been written by a Constantinopolitan around 150 years earlier, but both novels and author had been forgotten.

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1113893349370307562005-04-19T09:49:00.000+03:002005-04-19T10:20:46.476+03:00

A while ago I read a rather haunting tale in Zoetrope All-Story. It was Dean Bakopoulos's first published story: Please Don’t Come Back from the Moon. It was a resonating tale, not easily forgettable. And Dean Bakopoulos became one of those authors I wanted to keep an eye out for...Well, his novel Please Don’t Come Back from the Moon is out now. Synopsis from the book's website:The summer

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1113447496166988552005-04-14T05:58:00.000+03:002005-04-14T06:26:41.016+03:00

Austrian artist Gerhard Haderer is legally in the clear and his illustrated book, Η Ζωή του Ιησού (The Life of Jesus), translated by Περής Ορφανίδης and published by OXY back in November 2002, will be placed back on the shelves of Greek bookstores around the nation. It is on sale via the OXY website, where readers are now engaging in candid discussion about the book, the banning and the

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1113130659451594942005-04-10T13:57:00.000+03:002005-04-10T14:11:50.926+03:00

The Greek Orthodox Church has been at the centre of a scandal and still hasn't recovered from its identity crisis a few years back......So: One way to keep eyes off your scandal is to point your finger at another scandal. Hence the April 13 court case, which will address the case of Austrian artist Gerhard Haderer who has been convicted in abstentia of blasphemy [for a cute little book called The

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1112299380027583652005-03-31T23:03:00.000+03:002005-03-31T23:06:37.376+03:00

Matt Barrett has attempted the impossible: Read his Short History of Greece. I clicked on the Alexander bit first, since I was in the mood for a bit of historical gossip considering all the "controversy" in recent months...I met various Greeks in Sydney who personalized the whole issue of Alexander's cinematic sexuality in response to non-Greeks saying things like "Hey, mate! I never knew

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1112298702222087152005-03-31T22:51:00.000+03:002005-03-31T22:51:42.223+03:00

So, the answer to Quiz #4 is Thomas Mann. The Greek musician in question was: Loris Margaritis (1884-1953) was a distinguished greek composer, musicologist, performer and music-educator. As an infant prodigy he played his own compositions in pianoforte at age of 9 in the Richard Wagner Concert Hall of the Munich Palace...Thomas Mann was present during this concert and was inspired from the

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1111995738538048892005-03-28T10:42:00.000+03:002005-03-28T10:42:18.536+03:00

Sad news today. Paul Hester ends it He was so amazing on the stage. A riot. Funny, how the people who bring so much joy to others can, themselves, be so sad.

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1111872106406301572005-03-26T23:21:00.000+02:002005-03-26T23:25:19.916+02:00

This is wrong, I know it is. But I can't help it. Everyone is gizoogling and I had the wicked idea of Gizoogling the Cavafy poems I posted here the other day. Sorry. This is wrong. But I can't help it. Translations thanks to GizoogleMonotony One monotizzles day is followedby anotha monotizzles identical day like old skool shit. The sippin' wizzill happen, they will happen again --the same moments

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1111869753559614722005-03-26T22:42:00.000+02:002005-03-27T20:00:48.093+03:00

My cute friend Steve Kane sent me this book thingy, which he got from the gorgeous and talented Jai Claire. His answers are right here.And mine are here:1. You're stuck inside Fahrenheit 451, what book would you like to be? Ulysses by James Joyce. I want to be misunderstood but great!2. Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character? When I was younger.: Mr Darcy. Then a bit older: Jude in

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1111852527304161122005-03-26T17:55:00.000+02:002005-03-26T17:59:46.396+02:00

Another quiz borrowed from Ta Nea.Which German author attended a piano concert in Munich (around 1893) to see a Greek child perform and what story did he write about the event?

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1111782266665500682005-03-25T22:24:00.000+02:002005-03-25T22:24:26.666+02:00

From an article by Tilottama Rajan printed in the lit, history and philosophy of history journal CLIO (Winter 2004).... A fragment from Hegel (1803): "It belongs to the highest cultural development of the people to say everything in their own language. The concepts that we mark with foreign words seem to be themselves foreign and not to belong to us immediately as our own." Notes: : What of

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1111732290854464192005-03-25T08:31:00.000+02:002005-03-25T08:33:53.623+02:00

Some websites belonging to Greek authors:[I'm quoting from the websites themselves]1. Nikos Dimou"Born 1935, Athens, Greece. Graduated from Athens College, (a Greek-American school) 1954. Parallel studies in Athens of French language and literature. 1954-1960 studied Philosophy (major), Psychology and English Literature (minors), in Munich, Germany (Munich University). Published his doctor's

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1110529648324023872005-03-11T10:27:00.000+02:002005-03-11T10:31:05.826+02:00

Inspired by Douglas Anders's blog entry on Cavafy at the Hellenophile I flicked through some of my old Cavafy favourites. ΜονοτονίαΤην μιαν μοτόνονην ημέρα άλλημονότονη, απαράλλακτη ακολουθεί. Θα γίνουντα ίδια πράγματα, θα ξαναγινούν πάλι-η όμοιες στιγμές μας βρίσκουνε και μας αφήνουν.Μήνας περνά και φέρνει άλλον μήνα.Αυτά που έρχονται κανείς εύκολα τα εικάζει.Είναι τα χθεσινά τα βαρετά

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1110525474227550432005-03-11T09:17:00.000+02:002005-03-11T09:17:54.226+02:00

Thalassa_mikra blogged the events of an American-Hellenic council dinner at: Cyborg's Contemplative Corner: Stolen centrepieces and the Cyprus question. I've always maintained that Greeks in the Diaspora make up a separate race, more akin to other migrants, to a migrant race, rather than to the modern Greeks living in Greece. The binding characteristic of the Greeks of the Diaspora is in the

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1110493510528404012005-03-11T00:25:00.000+02:002005-03-11T00:25:10.530+02:00

Henrik Ibsen died in May, 1906, and on June 6, 1906, Kostis Palamas wrote an "Ode on the death of Ibsen" (if that title is correct in the English, I haven't found a copy of the poem. Anyone?). According to the Greek newspaper Ta Nea (whose source is a book by Nikiforos Papandreou, called Ibsen in Greece; Νικηφόρος Παπανδρέου, ο Ίψεν στην Ελλάδα, Εκδ. Κέδρος, 1983) the poem is a dialogue between

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1110062958135306732005-03-06T00:49:00.000+02:002005-03-06T00:51:07.340+02:00

This week's quiz is again "borrowed" from Greek daily Ta Nea:For the death of which writer did Greek poet Kostis Palamas write an Ode?Hint: The writer was an influential playwright, the pioneer of modern realistic drama, whose work is regularly performed around the world today.

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1110062093917733252005-03-06T00:34:00.000+02:002005-03-06T00:35:46.713+02:00

Lots of interesting reading at Greekworks.com, including articles on the Diaspora.The construction of identity in diasporic communities is motivated by two major impulses/desires. The first seeks an identity related to a homeland that will impart strong cultural, historical, and racial roots to the diasporic community. This form of identity requires a strong connection between center/homeland and

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1109077587950536992005-02-22T15:06:00.000+02:002005-02-22T15:10:08.316+02:00

The Fly. Little Fly,Thy summer's playMy thoughtless handHas brushed away.Am not IA fly like thee?Or art not thouA man like me?For I danceAnd drink and sing,Till some blind handShall brush my wing.If thought is lifeAnd strength and breath,And the wantOf thought is death,Then am IA happy fly,If I liveOr if I die.-- From Songs of Experience, William Blake

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1108899920637111212005-02-20T13:45:00.000+02:002005-02-20T15:54:21.156+02:00

Congrats to thalassa_mikra for correctly answering the inaugural Quiz of the Day! The Russian writer who attended a Greek school was indeed Anton Pavlovich Chekhov.As I mentioned, Greek daily Ta Nea posed the quiz and answered it with the following extract from a letter sent in 1900 to Agathoklis Konstantinides, who approached the Russian author some time in 1900 (?) with an interest to translate

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1108826672668088542005-02-19T17:24:00.000+02:002005-02-19T17:24:32.666+02:00

BOOKISH QUIZ OF THE DAY: Q: Which Russian writer of fiction attended a school for Greek boys? Answer tomorrow. [I'm borrowing this quiz from Greek daily Ta Nea.]

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1108563589890446602005-02-16T16:19:00.000+02:002005-02-16T16:22:42.706+02:00

So, I've been thinking about Nikos Kazantzakis's "Askitiki" ever since that previous post of mine about it being on a top five besteller list over at Greekbooks.gr. I downloaded the Kimon Friar translation, even though my partner has the original Greek on his bookshelf, which happens to be right behind me. Anyway, the PDF file is sitting on my desktop. I know I want to read it. Maybe even respond

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1107795071534669082005-02-07T18:51:00.000+02:002005-02-07T18:55:37.763+02:00

Speaking of book publishers Metaixmio, just noted that their 2005 literary diary is devoted to Maria Polydouri, possibly the most important modern Greek (female) poet. She was very keen on melancholy poet Kostas Karyotakis and wrote rather intense love poetry as well as many letters to him.

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1107794109512819072005-02-07T18:35:00.000+02:002005-02-07T18:38:53.720+02:00

Bob Dylan's autobiography, is now out in Greek. Title: Η Ζωή Μου. Translators: Χίλντα Παπαδημητρίου, Νίκη Προδρομίδου. Publisher: Metaixmio. Price 15 euro. What joy. An excerpt? «[...] Το μεγάλο αυτοκίνητο σταμάτησε στην άλλη άκρη της γέφυρας για να κατεβώ. Έκλεισα με δύναμη πίσω μου την πόρτα, έγνεψα ένα αντίο και άρχισα να βαδίζω βιαστικά πάνω στο σκληρό χιόνι. Ο τσουχτερός αέρας με

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1107295604686709582005-02-02T01:06:00.000+02:002005-02-02T00:11:29.673+02:00

I was browsing the online bookstore Greekbooks and came across a surprise. On the books page was a link to the store's top 5 bestsellers. Yes, OK, Mr Dan Brown was there at Number 4, but that was no surprise. The surprise was what was listed as the Number 5 bestseller... Number 5 was Nikos Kazantzakis's Askitiki, his lesser known philosophical work. I found that such a pleasing discovery.

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1101746300401412992004-11-29T18:38:00.000+02:002004-11-29T18:42:17.470+02:00

Professor Theodosios Pelegrinis has written a new dictionary of philosophy in Greek (Λεξικό της Φιλοσοφίας, Εκδόσεις Ελληνικά Γράμματα, 2004). The last dictionary of its kind was published around 80 years ago. Pelegrinis began work on his dictionary in 1999. The finished book is 1512 pages long. It spans 25 centuries of philosophical thought, via 15,000 entries. It is organised in two parts.

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1101743400567508462004-11-29T17:50:00.000+02:002004-11-29T18:08:18.510+02:00

While certain Greek lawyers are getting all silly over Oliver Stone's gay Alexander, Greek daily newspaper Eleftherotypia dedicated its weekly book review supplement Vivliothiki to homosexuality in literature. Of course, the motivation for this issue comes from the ManBooker winner this year, Hollinghurst's The Line of Beauty. The issue lists a bibliography on Greek books with homosexual themes.

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1101682539885612282004-11-29T01:55:00.000+02:002004-11-29T01:01:33.053+02:00

According to Greek daily Kathimerini* Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code has been on the Top 10 bestseller list for 30 weeks. Yowza! And this week it's at Numero 2. His Angels and Demons (title translated as Illuminati in the Greek) is at the Numero 3 spot this week and has been on the list for 15 weeks. * This bestseller list is based on stats offered by various Athens-based bookstores, such as

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1101404262815707282004-11-25T19:37:00.000+02:002004-11-25T19:37:42.816+02:00

The National Book Centre (EKEBI) and the Thessaloniki International Film Festival (TIFF), present this From Book to Screen thing at the old warehouses of the port of Thessaloniki through to November 28. Films based on books, books about film.

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1101403007644479062004-11-25T19:16:00.000+02:002004-11-25T19:18:19.663+02:00

The Culture Guide notes the presentation of three theatre books, written by Iosif Vivilakis, at the Book Gallery of Athens... Iosif Vivilakis is assistant professor at the Theatre Studies Department of the University of Athens. The first two books, "Theatre representation in Byzantium and West" (Publication House of Goulandris-Horn Foundation) and "For the sanctuary and drama. Theatrologist

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1101402812386836122004-11-25T19:13:00.000+02:002004-11-25T19:13:32.386+02:00

As of next year the Greek Book Centre will award cash prizes to the best film based on a literary work, report Ta Nea. A first timer in Greece.

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1101323937202543262004-11-24T21:18:00.000+02:002004-11-24T21:18:57.203+02:00

Greek daily Ta Nea notes that Amazon.com has declared the Homeric epics as this year's bestsellers, thanks to the film Troy. But Greek publishers haven't noted any significant rise in demand for the Odyssey and Iliad, though the Kazantzakis-Kakrides translation is doubling its print run this year resulting in 3000 copies from the usual 1500 publishing house ESTIA normally prints. The paper also

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1101322687178045272004-11-24T20:58:00.000+02:002004-11-24T21:03:22.900+02:00

Kathimerini English Edition reports that "relics looted by Bulgaria are on their way home to Greece". Manuscripts and other relics taken from monasteries in Macedonia and Thrace during WWI are being 'repatriated'. A few days ago when Bulgaria's President Georgi Parvanov expressed his government's intention of returning the relics to Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomaios. "The development came as a

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1100959893862976732004-11-20T16:11:00.000+02:002004-11-24T21:04:11.836+02:00

Sofka Zinovieff's Eurydice Street: A Place in Athens  Mark Dragoumis over at the Athens News has written an article about this memoir/travel book.

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1099249185697852962004-10-31T20:59:00.000+02:002004-11-03T15:44:31.583+02:00

I'm not blogging at the moment. Hope to in near future. Here's my website if you want more.

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1070224957963761602003-11-30T22:42:00.000+02:002003-11-30T22:43:55.926+02:00

Preveza by Kostas Karyotakis Death—the daws that thump against the black tiles and walls, death, the women who are loved while peeling onions. Death—the sordid insignificant streets with their grandiose names, the olive grove, around it the sea, and even the sun, death amongst all the deaths. Death—the policeman who wraps up an “insufficient” portion to weight it, death, the sumbul on the

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1070224902528857202003-11-30T22:41:00.000+02:002003-11-30T22:41:51.973+02:00

For my brother. by Kostas Karyotakis You’re a man. But I’m always the same— the years that passed have left me freakish, an aged kid. And I don’t want anything anymore, brother, the dreams I held in my hands became rust, so I gave them away, rose petals, to the wind. When will you be able to forget the daily concerns that have won you over, so you can come from over there, slip your

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1070224790780543602003-11-30T22:39:00.000+02:002003-11-30T22:40:00.240+02:00

Working on translatons of Kostas Karyotakis poems. Ideal Suicides by Kostas Karyotakis They turn the key in the door, take out the old letters they’ve kept there, read them silently, and later drag their steps one last time. They say their life was a tragedy— my God, the ghoulish laughter of man, the tears, the sweat, the sky’s nostalgia, the desolation of the land. They stand at the

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1070224676337887522003-11-30T22:37:00.000+02:002003-11-30T22:38:05.820+02:00

Just read about an Auckland University study that traces the English language back to Turkish farmers. "For almost two centuries linguists and archaeologists debated two theories on the origins of the language family whose members ranged from Greek and Hindi to German and English. It was thought the language was either spread by rampaging Kurgan horsemen who swept down on Europe and the Near

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146112.post-1070145353886386452003-11-30T00:35:00.000+02:002003-11-30T22:32:08.310+02:00

A beginning.

kathrynnoreply@blogger.com0