The Greek History and Culture Seminars offered by the Greek Community of Melbourne welcome Dr Cassi Plate, who will present an online lecture entitled Monster & Colossus: Letters between Greek writer Costas Taktsis & Australian artist Carl Plate & their families in cosmopolitan post-war Sydney, on Thursday 16 September at 7:00pm.
Costas Taktsis (Κώστας Ταχτσής), was arguably the most important post-war Greek writer and referred to himself as a Sacred Monster. He called his life-long friend, Sydney artist Carl Plate, a committed internationalist and key figure in the post-war Australian modern art movement, the Colossus of Woronora.
After Taktsis was banished from Australia, the friendship of these inveterate travellers , the writer and the artist, was kept alive through decades of correspondence.
Dr Plate will talk about the poet and writer’s experience of Australia during the post-war wave of immigration. For Taktsis, Australia was a place of innocence, a new stage on which to reinvent himself, and the form of the Greek novel. On the contrary, Carl Plate (1909-1977) saw Australia as a prison from which he sought to escape, but a prison that enabled him to keep painting. Claimed as the first modern Greek novel, The Third Wedding, written largely in Australia, was dedicated to Carl and Jocelyn Plate.
Dr Plate is a curator, writer and former ABC broadcaster (Triple J, Radio National). She has taught and researched at UTS, University of Newcastle and University of Western Sydney. Her previous book Restless Spirits, was the pilot for a ‘Thesis to Book’ initiative of the University of Sydney and publisher PanMacmillan. Her latest book Monster & Colossus was published by Australian Scholarly Publishing in 2020.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE
The event will be simulcasted YouTube Live, Facebook Live, and Twitter Broadcast.
You don’t need an account to watch the live broadcast with any of the above services. However, if you want to participate in the Q&A at the end of the seminar you will need an account with the equivalent service in order to post your question in the comments/chat section.