As part of the Greek History and Culture Seminars being offered by the Greek Community of Melbourne, Howard F. Dossor will be presenting a lecture about Nikos Kazantzakis’ Askitiki.

Set to take place on Thursday 2 June at the Greek Centre, Mr Dossor has lectured regularly on Kazantzakis, having first become acquainted with his work in 1956.

While alive, Kazantzakis found himself ostracised by many within the Church as an apostate, but it’s a very different story today, with the writer being welcomed as an important theological thinker.

However, while religious readers of his work will focus on his repeated use of the word ‘God’, its more definitive centre may lie in what Kazantzakis has to say to us about humanity.

The writer celebrates life as the highest value human beings can esteem, and locates human existence firmly within its energetic thrust upward towards an escalating enrichment. In doing so, he also offers his readers a set of practical guidelines which enhance their capacity to engage spiritually and creatively with life in that forward thrust.

Rather than focusing on the promise of an afterlife, Kazantzakis appears to be arguing that it is each individual’s responsibility to instead contribute to the enrichment of life on Earth, all of which will be covered through the lecture.

Having discarded his theological views, Mr Dossor came out of the ministry of the Congregational Churches.

Since entering the education sector, he has taught in schools and at the La Trobe University Language Centre in Melbourne, before moving into university administration, being appointed as the Registrar and University Secretary of Victoria University.

His paper, ‘The Existential Theology of Nikos Kazantzakis’ was published in 2001 as part of the prestigious Pendle Hill Pamphlet series (No. 359). Several of his public lectures on Kazantzakis are presented on YouTube.

The lecture will take place on Thursday 2 June at the Greek Centre, Mezzanine, 168 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne, VIC at 7pm. For more information, email info@greekcommunity.com.au or call (03) 9662 2722.