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‘I paint ordinary people on the street. My paintings are like silent screams, full of colour. The monsters that emerge from my hand are people, gods or animals, or a bit of all of them together.” Maria Protopappa’s ‘EMMA’, an adaptation based on the book Memories by Correspondence (trans. Maria Palaiologou), written by the Colombian painter Emma Reyes at the urging of Gabriel García Márquez, is being staged from 27 February at the Second Stage of the Kefallinias Street Theatre, for 10 performances, every Monday and Tuesday. The theatrical world of ‘EMMA’ appeals to the senses, not the mind. It is a three-dimensional painting or a song in prose. Through the eyes of a four-year-old child, it brings to life early 20th-century Colombia, within an atmosphere of Latin American mysticism and Catholic austerity. It is inspired by the life of a female Oliver Twist who, through her courage, innocence and unbridled imagination, managed to survive in harsh conditions, travel the world and excel in Europe as an artist.-Who showed you love when you were a child? -I don’t remember us having such worries...The legend of ‘Emma Reyes’ was born in Bogotá in 1919. She grew up without parents or an identity. She died in Bordeaux, France, in 2003, aged 83, from an unknown virus.Her writing is oral and unpretentious, as she was illiterate: “I value what you have lived through more, and what you have read much less.” Contributors Adaptation-Performance: Maria ProtopappaTranslation: Maria PalaiologouDramaturgy Consultant: Kitty PaitazoglouSet Designer-Costume Designer: Maria PanourgiaLighting-Photography: Sakis BirbilisMovement Supervision: Mariela NestoraCostume Making: Paraskevi ProtopappaSet Construction: Another Kind Of Art Production: Kart ProductionsInfoSecond Stage of the Kefallinias Street Theatre18 Kefallinias Street, KypseliInformation – bookings: 2114117878Performance dates and timesFrom 27 February, for 10 performancesMonday and Tuesday at 21.00Find out more here

Ikaros Publications has a number of significant books due to be released over the coming months. Read on for detailed information about the titles we plan to publish by summer 2018:GREEK POETRY Yannis Efthymiadis: Patrida Yannis Efthymiadis was born in 1969 in Piraeus. He studied classical literature and undertook postgraduate studies in ancient Greek drama. He has published five collections of poetry (Stigma, privately published 2004, Kainos Diaretis, Nefeli 2007, Letters to the Prince, Mikri Arktos 2010, 27 or The Man Who Falls, Mikri Arktos 2012, On Your Body, Little Bear 2014) and a literary essay (12 Conversations with Odysseas Elytis’s Monogram, Kalligraphos 2014). He has translated English and American poets. His poems have been included in Greek and international anthologies and have been translated into English, French and German, whilst the cycle of poems The Crystal of the World (Metronomos 2016) has been set to music and recorded. He works as a teacher, has published literature textbooks for secondary education, and is a contributor to literary publications, both print and online, and magazines. Thanos Stathopoulos: The Hour Prose texts, notes, quotations, traces, readings, references, observations, fragments on the poetics of space, space as a laboratory, architectural space and the spiritual centre.In his seventh book, Thanos Stathopoulos emphasises the poetics of space, alluding to what we might call ‘architectural space’, that is, the realm in which human expression takes place and which is defined by the body, actions, habitation, memory, time, signs, form and the psychic centre. Reality is recognised through the dream, and the text is understood as an erotic event. Time stands at the centre of things. Yannis Psychopedis: At the bottom of dreams. Images from Andreas Embeirikos’s Octana. Visual artist Yannis Psychopedis draws inspiration from Octana, one of the finest works of Greek literature, and presents a volume featuring 39 paintings and selected excerpts from the work.The works included in the publication will be exhibited at the Zoumboulakis Gallery from 27 to 31 March 2018.  GREEK PROSE Eftychia Giannaki: City in the LightA pregnant woman, a former model, is brutally murdered in her detached house in Kavouri. Inspector Haris Kokkinos and his team take on the task of solving a crime that brings them face to face with dashed expectations, doping rings in sport and a cycle of violence that begins in Serbia in 1995 and ends in Athens in 2014. At the same time, the son of the forty-five-year-old police inspector stands trial on charges that test his resilience, as he seeks to come to terms with his own responsibility for the mistakes of the past.In this case, everyone is a suspect, and the interrogations bring to light a city that is turning into a closed room. The question that arises is how far you can go when you have nothing left to lose. When you realise that hope is not the last thing to die.The story is the third part of the Athens Trilogy and would not exist were it not for the city, its light and its darkness. Lina Rokou: The End of HungerThis is the first book by journalist Lina Rokou. ‘‘I’ll sell you my spleen,’ says Emma to San, and so begins a chain of strange transactions between the young unemployed woman and the eccentric junk dealer who is interested not in washing machines but in the woman’s diaries and love letters, which she invites him to read at her home. Whilst he buys more pieces of her body, she reveals to him the peculiar relationship she had developed with L.R. and how the latter wanted to rebuild her body. How do you deconstruct the other to reach their core? Can you buy his wits, and at what price? Can a lollipop serve as monetary compensation? Are there flying plants? How is a heart sold? Have you read pages from Mr P.’s diary? Has an apple ever got stuck in your throat? DIARYGeorge Seferis: Days H & Days IEdited by: Katerina Krikou-DavisThe last two volumes of George Seferis’s personal diary.These are two voluminous books which, in addition to Giorgos Seferis’s entries, include an introductory note by the editor, notes, an appendix with supplementary material and an index of persons. In her extensive commentary on the entries, Katerina Krikou Davis provides factual explanations, identifies literary references, clarifies the political and cultural events of the era, and provides information on the countless figures who pass through the pages, whilst also highlighting parallels with the poet’s other works.The Days H span from January 1961 to December 1963. They cover the final months of Seferis’s tenure as Ambassador to Great Britain and extend to his return to Greece and the announcement of the Nobel Prize.The Days X begin in February 1964 and the last entry is in May 1971, a period that also includes the imposition of the junta in Greece.The long-awaited two volumes, H and I, complete George Seferis’s diaries, covering the last decade of his life. PSYCHOLOGY - BOOKS FOR PARENTS Athanasios Alexandridis: School for Anxious Parents: Children’s FearsIn the second book of the ‘School for Anxious Parents’ series, psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Athanasios Alexandridis returns with yet another important issue that concerns the majority of parents: that of childhood fears. The material in the book, like that in the first volume of the series, Childhood Loves (Ikaros, 2017), was compiled from transcribed recordings of evening discussions and lectures given by Athanasios Alexandridis to the parents of pupils at the Argyris-Laios Primary School.The strong need of parents to express and discuss a range of issues relating to their children’s development, intra-family relationships and the children’s connection with school and the social environment forms the backdrop to these meetings.The family is a constantly changing space of potential conflict, both between the forces of love and those of aggression within each of its members, and between the family as a whole and the external reality. It is through this lens that the discussions take place; it is with this psychodynamic psychoanalytic perspective that the answers are defined. FOREIGN PROSE Sebastian Barry (Ireland): Days without endTranslation: Maria Angelidou Irish author Sebastian Barry returns with a compelling novel set in America in the mid-19th century: a powerful story of two men living through some of the most critical moments in American history.Having enlisted in the US Army in the 1850s, at the age of just seventeen, Thomas McNulty and his comrade-in-arms John Cole fight in the Indian Wars and subsequently in the American Civil War. Orphans, both having endured terrible hardships, and despite the atrocities they witness, they find their days filled with light and vitality. Then, a young Native American girl crosses their path and the possibility of happiness seems within reach, provided they can survive.Spanning the plains of the West to Tennessee, Sebastian Barry’s latest book is a masterpiece of atmosphere and language that challenges us to consider that perhaps a bitter life is worth living if it contains moments of scattered happiness.The book was honoured with the 2016 Costa Book Award for Fiction and the 2017 Walter Scott Prize, and was also longlisted for the 2017 Man Booker Prize, the 2017 HWA Endeavour Ink Gold Crown and the 2018 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction.In February 2018, Sebastian Barry was honoured with the highest distinction in Irish literature (Laureate for Irish Fiction). Georgi Gospodinov (Bulgaria): The Physics of SorrowTranslation: Alexandra IoannidouHaving been shortlisted for the Strega Europeo (Rome, 2014) and Gregor von Rezzori (Florence, 2014) and honoured with every literary prize in Bulgaria, the novel The Physics of Sorrow ranks Georgi Gospodinov among Europe’s most inventive and daring writers.Using the myth of the Minotaur as his central image, the book’s narrator (the author’s alter ego) constructs a labyrinth of stories about his family, jumping between different eras and perspectives, exploring the mindset and dead ends of Eastern Europeans.An incredibly moving yet humorous book about human anxieties, empathy and its loss, which sheds light on issues such as abandonment and isolation. Its original structure and stunning narrative captivated international critics, who hailed it as one of the finest European postmodern novels. Fabio Stassi (Italy): The Missing Reader (La lettrice scomparsa)Translation: Dimitra DotsiIn Fabio Stassi’s captivating novel, books end up serving as remedies, medicines, and even investigative tools for solving a crime.A highly literary character, Vince Corso, is born of his mother’s fleeting affair with a traveller, and his only inheritance from his father is three books left behind in his room before he left.Influenced by this, and having read extensively throughout his life, he is now convinced that literature is a strange lie, capable of manipulating life... To survive, he invents bibliotherapy, through which he recommends notable books as medicine to people who describe their mental or physical ailments to him.When he discovers one day that his neighbour has disappeared, and that her husband is accused of murder, he begins to study the woman through the books she read, which a solitary bookseller had recorded in his archives. He is convinced that, through her death, the woman has written a story that only he can decipher.Perhaps the truth that emerges from this investigation is a bittersweet victory for literature, allowing us to wander through the magical labyrinth of writing. Marina Tsvetaeva (Russia): My Pushkin (Мой Пушкин)Translation: Fotis LambrinosIn this book by the popular Russian poet Marina Tsvetaeva (1892–1941), My Pushkin, the author blends narrative, autobiography and poetic prose with great interest, in a unique quest to discover literature and its ability to transform reality.Marina Tsvetaeva sketches the Pushkin of her childhood, her secret readings, her journey and her encounter with the great poet. Alejandro Zambra (Chile): Skills Test (Facsimile)Translation: Achilleas KyriakidisTo say that Skills Test is a novel is just as risky as saying it isn’t. Perhaps it is better simply to say that it is a book by Alejandro Zambra, because the style and themes that have made him a significant voice in Latin American literature unfold here in a substantial and intense manner.Taking as his starting point the structure of the university entrance examination system implemented in Chile from 1967 to 2002, the author creates an unexpected work in which stories coexist with literary excerpts and linguistic exercises that are, in essence, moral dilemmas: the need to lie in order to be validated by others, the desire to form bonds despite mistrust in love and family, the difficulty of navigating a minefield of secrets, the desperate conviction that, instead of learning to think, we have been trained to obey and repeat. CHILDREN’S BOOKS Series: ShipsMaria Angelidou – Antonis PapatheodoulouIllustrations: Christos KourtoglouAges: 7 years and upReal and imaginary ships, from mythology and literature, from ancient and recent history, invite us to set sail with them on a journey through space and time, a journey where everything can be told as a maritime tale.The creators of the ‘Ships’ book series are back with two new titles: Ships that played with fire When a ship sinks, how is it that the fire it carried in its hold remains on the surface… and does not go out? What will become of Sam, the apprentice riverboat pilot, when he grows up? How many ships were burned for the sake of a single pirate island? How many years could it endure in utter darkness, the Sun’s own ship?    Ships that carried curiosityWhy does Calypso like to sit upside down, with the keel up and the bridge in the water? Which ship was it that held the most insatiable of all the world’s curiosities? Are there, I wonder, ancient ships… brand new? Which ship was it that made Megalexandros weep? And why? How far did the Vasa, the pride of the royal fleet, intend to go with its bold long-range voyage?   The first two books in the series (Ships That Were Not Afraid and Ships That Carried the Imagination) have been recognised by the Greek Children’s Book Circle and have been included in the international White Ravens list. Benji Davies: The GrotlynTranslation: Antonis PapatheodoulouAges: from 4 years oldA uniquely illustrated book full of mystery and suspense from the award-winning creator of The Boy Who Saw the Whale, Grandad’s Island, and the Little Bear series. What is the mysterious Grotlyn? What sort of creature is this that roams the town, terrifying everyone in its path?  Grotlin comes to your house at night, wandering in the darkness… But be careful, don’t get confused!The eye sees whatever you think. In his long-awaited book, Benji Davies presents an atmospheric story with rhymes and many characters that will confirm, in the most subversive way, the saying that ‘appearances can be deceiving’... Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler: The Ugly FiveTranslation: Filippos MandilarasAges: from 3 years oldInspired by the ‘ugly five’, as these – not so well-known – African animals are called, this brand-new book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler is a wonderful read for those who feel unloved because of their appearance.The funny, enthusiastic rhymes of the text are ideal for reading aloud, whilst the illustrations bring the impressive savannah to life before every reader’s eyes.Ikaros has also published the following books by the two creators: Zog, The Scarecrows’ Wedding, and The Little Woodpecker, whilst Axel Scheffler has published the successful series of books Tick and Tella. Linda Sarah - Ben Mantle: Tom’s Magnificent MachinesTranslation: Antonis PapatheodoulouAges: 3 years and upFrom the author of Friends on the Hill comes another emotionally charged yet deeply optimistic book that thoughtfully explores themes such as love and support between children and parents.Tom and his Dad loved making things together, and more specifically, things that move! Soon their inventions became bigger, faster and crazier. Now their house was full of creations that went up and down, spun round and round, and flew. And then, a change came, as fast as lightning. Dad lost his job. Sadness spread through the house like a winter cloud. Until Tom came up with a brilliant idea inspired by their unique vehicle inventions, creating something amazing, something the world had never seen before...

To mark the release of her first crime novel, *Asitiki Oikia sto Halandri* (A Townhouse in Halandri), Ismini Kapantai gave an extremely interesting interview to Elpidoforos Intsembelis for diastixo.gr.You can read it below: What inspired you to write the book *Asitiki Oikia sto Halandri*?Recently, I have been trying to understand when and where we went wrong as a society and how we arrived at what we are experiencing today – namely, the crisis, a crisis that is not merely economic, but primarily social. It was only natural, then, to look back to the years that preceded this, the years of false bliss, not so much the 1980s as the 1990s, years during which the certainty had taken root within us that whatever happiness we enjoyed had, and would never have, any cost. At the same time, I should perhaps add that recently I have been rereading, for other reasons of course, the history of the creation of the modern Greek state (Diamantouros, Dertilis, Klog, as well as memoirs of freedom fighters). If one delves into this material, one realises, however unbelievable it may seem, that in so many respects—and these are always the ‘bad’ ones, the negative ones—we remain unchanged in our social behaviour. Experience clearly does not teach us, and we repeat, indeed with passion, the same mistakes. This, I believe, is how the Urban House in Halandri came about.Is the title you chose symbolic, or does it refer to specific people or situations? The title is purely symbolic. From time to time, the issue of social classes in Greece is raised, and specifically the issue of the middle class, sometimes as a question, ‘Does Greece have a middle class?’, and at other times as a definitive conclusion: ‘Greece has never had, nor does it have now, a middle class’. The answer, of course, will eventually be provided by scholars and historians. In *The Bourgeois House* in Halandri, however, some of my fictional characters are, in my view as a writer, a version of the Greek bourgeoisie. In the novel, the main character is Aspasia Arnaouti. Where does she find the strength to assert herself over the whole family?In the Greece of Aspasia Arnaouti’s youth, and whilst gender equality could only exist in the realm of science fiction, it was women who, in essence, ruled their households, and this with the consent of the men. Their roles were, of course, separate and distinct, but the man was always regarded as the head of the household. Let us not forget, however, that during the Ottoman period on many islands, where the seafaring men of the family were away all year round, women took on their roles in all areas of life. This resulted, amongst other things, in the family home being legally bequeathed not to the eldest son, as was the case elsewhere, but to the eldest daughter, also known as the ‘kanakari’. Aspasia is a woman who has fought hard and who knows in advance what lies ahead. Is that enough for her to survive in the business world? Aspasia Arnaouti belongs to a particularly gifted, yet on the other hand terrifying, breed of people, men or women, who have resolved never to be defeated, never to lose, and are, consequently, prepared to pay any price in the game they are playing in order to win, without a second thought. People who do not hesitate to sacrifice everyone and everything – Aspasia in my book not only sacrifices children and grandchildren but, in a sense, by doing so, actually enjoys it. It is the human species that has no inhibitions, the people who, particularly in decadent societies, not only impose themselves but also serve as role models. You are referring to the 1990s. So why did everyone believe that money could buy them everything? Unfortunately, I don’t have an answer to your question. Looking back now, we are all baffled by the naivety that characterised us as a society back then. Were we turning a blind eye? Were we self-destructive? I don’t know, but when we look back, we are astonished to realise how readily we accepted all the positives (the ‘free’ positives) without ever asking ourselves how they came about or why. Today we’re simply paying the price, which is, of course, vastly inflated. In life, everything—and I mean everything—comes at a cost, and we’d obviously forgotten that. You describe harsh situations and, more importantly, the exploitation of people. Is there no justice to punish those who use the weak as pawns to achieve their goal, which is profit? Justice has always existed and continues to exist, but alongside it there is also institutional corruption, which flourishes in periods of social decline. The society in which my characters live is clearly in decline. Mitrodora, or Dori, is playing with fire. Is she perhaps overstepping the boundaries set for her? I wouldn’t say so. Who, after all, sets these specific ‘boundaries’, as you call them, and when? Are they always the same, in every era? Dori grew up and lives in an environment where the only thing that matters is ‘how much you have’, and certainly not how you acquired it. It is a society where the main and primary concern of those who make it up is ostentation. Dori, too, is a member of this society of ‘appearances’, and acts accordingly. The standards were set by others and Dori operates according to them; I would consider her more of a victim, and by no means a perpetrator. Blackmail, underhand dealings, fraud. Do all these things coexist in the daily lives of businesspeople, or do they belong to the realm of fantasy? I consider ‘daily’ to be an exaggeration. Alas, surely in every field there are also the honest, the worthy, those who do not cheat or blackmail to succeed. The successful, yet dishonest, who are accepted without hesitation by society, and in many cases even serve as role models, existed back then and, unfortunately, continue to exist today. A glance at the newspapers, or listening to the radio and watching television, is enough to see this. And then a murder takes place. Is it a consequence of the abuse of society’s unwritten laws? Certainly, and not only of the unwritten laws but also of the written ones. It is not the commandment ‘Thou shalt not kill’ that has prevented us and continues to prevent us from getting rid of anyone who, at any moment, annoys us. There is also the criminal justice system, which, however, is violated with alarming ease by those in power – those with money and access to the so-called ‘deep state’, that is who I mean. On the other hand, we have police officer Christou. What makes him charismatic? Christou is a man of the people who set himself goals early in life. He is intelligent, ambitious, hard-working and methodical, so it is only natural that he succeeds most of the time. Let us not forget, however, the factor of luck, as well as his harmonious working relationship—which is his own choice—both with his superior and with his subordinate, with whom he develops another kind of relationship: a romantic one. At one point you write that Christos reads crime novels. Could something like that happen in real life? Personally, I haven’t yet had the chance in my life to come into contact with people working in that particular field so as to exchange views with them on literature; I cannot, therefore, know whether this is the case, that is, whether police officers enjoy reading crime novels, but why not? I would, in fact, consider it highly likely. After all, we know that crime novels are popular with the reading public, far more so than many other genres. And, as always, the presence of romance. Is this also one of the factors that makes the novel more interesting?In my novel, as you will have seen, there are many characters. They are men, they are women, young or not so young; it would be natural and to be expected, I think, for love to arise between them at some point, just as it does in real life.How do you use suspense to keep the reader hooked and engaged? In a good crime novel, there is always ‘suspense’ and, if you’d like my opinion, I believe there is plenty of it in *The City House*. However, as I am the author and may be biased, we will have to wait for those who read it to provide the answer that really matters to your question. I would, however, like to pose another question here. Is it only the suspense that keeps the reader hooked on a crime novel? My personal view, as a member of the reading public now, is that suspense alone is not enough. You need well-developed characters, above all, and a plot that rings true. Which crime writers do you like? Many, from the classics like Simenon, Conan Doyle, Hammett, James; I’ve also recently read Jo Nesbø, but my favourite remains Agatha Christie with her unsurpassed *And Then There Were None*.Why are so many crime novels being published lately? I believe a publisher would give you the most authoritative answer to that question. However, with the economy in its current state – that is, with the crisis that has literally crushed the market across all sectors – I imagine that publishers prefer them because crime novels have always sold very well and consistently.

The popular French author, Jean Echenoz, gave an exclusive interview to Bookpress and Dionysis Marinos, on the occasion of the publication of his latest book Special Envoy (translated by Achilleas Kyriakidis). You can read it below:Mr Echenoz, it has already been 38 years since you first came to the fore. Have you changed since then? Are you now a different writer? Although nothing is constant, not much has changed in terms of my writing. However, a great deal has changed in my life. Writing is now not just a part of it, but an essential part, as it has become my profession.How do you write? In what way, or, if you like, with what approach? I seek to explore uncharted areas of writing. I’ve noticed that when I start writing a book, I always want to work against what I’ve written in the past.Could you do something else? Not write again, let’s say? I’m afraid not. I can’t do that. What appeals to you most, the subject matter or the style? You are one of the finest stylists, but plot is not absent from your books.I’m equally interested in both, and that’s because both the subject I want to write about and the way I’m going to write it are interdependent. You know, cinema taught me a lot about how to tell my stories. In the 70s and 80s I watched a great many films. How did the idea for your latest book come to you? North Korea, Kim Jong-un: it’s not easy for anyone to see such subjects as material for fiction.To tell you the truth, I don’t remember very well how the idea came to me. I think that initially I wanted to write a short crime story involving a kidnapping, with the perpetrators demanding a ransom to release the victim. It would have been a story set in Paris, but also in the French countryside. On the other hand, however, I also wanted to write a story in which various spies would play a leading role. So, in the end, I chose to set the story in a ‘dramatic’ region such as North Korea. The novel constantly plays with the reader. You give them the floor. Am I wrong? I wouldn’t say I give them the floor. No, that is not my intention. And I say this because I regard the reader as a receiver. They are an imaginary witness to what they are reading. On the other hand, they are also an inventor of every book. What is certain is that you do not want a passive reader. Your books, by their very nature, demand active reading. I firmly believe that the reader is never passive. On the contrary, they are an actor, a hero of the novel. Just like the heroes found within the text. And if they grow tired of the book they are reading, they are free to put it down, and then they become a catalytic actor. In *The Special Envoy*, you use all genres in a highly successful blend. Politics is intertwined with satire and espionage. I use whatever I need to develop my story. I usually say that a novel doesn’t start with one idea, but with two. That is, with two facts that may be unrelated to each other, but which can somehow come together. This is something that captivates me and compels me to discover it. Are you interested in what’s happening in the world? Do you read newspapers? I read newspapers every day and I’d say there are times when I find good ideas in them. There are, of course, other times when I can’t see anything that grabs me and sparks an idea. Would you write a book featuring Emmanuel Macron or Donald Trump as the main character? I don’t think I would do that at the moment. No, I wouldn’t want to write a book with those two as the protagonists. Do you consider yourself a ‘political’ writer? Honestly, I’m not sure. There are times when I say, yes, I am a political writer, and at others I clearly do not operate on a political level. Therefore, I cannot answer that question with certainty. Are you writing anything at the moment? I’m afraid I cannot answer that with certainty either.Do your awards mean anything to you? You’ve won quite a few. Receiving an award always stirs up strong emotions in me. It means that your work has had an impact on readers. Every time I receive an award, I’m as surprised as the first time, and that’s because every book is a new endeavour. Nothing can be taken for granted.