Greece - Korina Miller [38]
The most celebrated novelist of the early 20th century is Nikos Kazantzakis (1883–1957), whose unorthodox religious views created a stir. His novels, all of which have been translated into English, are full of drama and larger-than-life characters, such as the magnificent title character in Alexis Zorbas (Zorba the Greek) and the tortured Captain Michalis in Freedom and Death, two of his finest works.
Another of the great prose writers was Stratis Myrivilis (1892–1969), whose works includes Life in the Tomb, Vasilis Arvanitis and The Mermaid Madonna.
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Delve into contemporary Athens’ underbelly with Petros Markaris’ fine detective novels The Late Night News (2005) and Zone Defence (2007), featuring the Rebus-like Inspector Haritos.
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CONTEMPORARY WRITERS
Greek has a thriving publishing industry, including many small independent publishers. About 7500 new titles are published annually, including 1700 local works of literature. Unfortunately very little contemporary fiction is translated into English.
Leading contemporary Greek writers who have been translated include Thanassis Valtinos, Rhea Galanaki, Ziranna Ziteli and Ersi Sotiropoulou, who wrote the acclaimed 1999 novel Zigzagging Through the Bitter Orange Trees. Playwright Kostas Mourselas’ bestselling novel Red-Dyed Hair was made into a popular TV series, while Ioanna Karystiani’s award-winning Swell, was due to be published in English in 2010.
Apostolos Doxiadis wrote the international bestseller, Uncle Petros and Goldbach’s Conjecture (2000), while award-winning children’s writer and criminologist Eugene Trivizas has published more than 100 books, including the international hit, The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig.
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Uncle Petros and Goldbach’s Conjecture by Apostolos Doxiadis, an unlikely blend of family drama and mathematical theory, tells the story of a mathematical genius’ attempt to solve a problem that has defied the world’s greatest minds.
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Also making small inroads into foreign markets are Vangelis Hatziyiannidis, who wrote the award-winning Four Walls and Stolen Time and Alexis Stamatis, author of Bar Flaubert and The Seventh Elephant.
Kedros’ modern literature translation series includes Dido Sotiriou’s Farewell Anatolia and Maro Douka’s Fool’s God. A younger voice in translation is author and newspaper columnist Amanda Mihalakopoulou, with her book of interwoven short stories, I’d Like.
Panos Karnezis bypassed the translation issue by writing in English. The Birthday Party follows his well-received novel The Maze and short stories, Little Infamies. Best-selling author, Soti Triandafyllou, also wrote her latest novel, Poor Margo, in English.
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The Greek Book Centre reviews the latest Greek books and has author profiles in the Ithaca Online (www.ekabi.gr) journal.
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Fine Arts
PAINTING
Art historians have been largely left to rely on decorated terracotta pots as evidence of the development of Greek painting, given the lack of any comprehensive archaeological record.
The few exceptions include the famous frescoes unearthed on Santorini, now housed in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. Painted in fresco technique using yellow, blue, red and black pigments, with some details added after the plaster had dried, they are stylistically similar to the paintings of Minoan Crete.
Greek painting came into its own during the Byzantine period. Byzantine churches were usually decorated with frescoes on a dark blue background with a bust of Christ in the dome, the four Gospel writers in the pendentives supporting the dome and the Virgin and Child in the apse. They also featured scenes from the life of Christ (Annunciation, Nativity, Baptism, Entry into Jerusalem, Crucifixion and Transfiguration) and figures of the saints. In later centuries the scenes in churches and icons involved more detailed narratives, including cycles of the life of the Virgin and