The Diatribe has it’s own cult following. Come rain and come shine, for the last 20 years it has appeared as a weekly staple of Neos Kosmos newspaper.
Written by lawyer Dean Kalymniou, who is an active member of the Greek community, known for his Greek spirit, philanthropy and sense of style when it comes to traditional Greek clothing.
This year, the column celebrates its 20th year, and is as much-loved as it is long-lived. It began before Oakleigh was invented and has outlasted denizens of English editors.
We asked its author to give us an insight into the column:
1. Why the Diatribe? How did you come up with the column’s name?
Diatribe was originally conceived in the smoke-filled Medallion cafe, because the tone of the column was supposed to assume the form of a garrulous patron of a kafeneio holding forth on the topic of the day, this being in the time before Oakleigh was invented. The language is deliberately hyperbolic for that reason. The name can also be split into its constituent parts: “Dire Tribe,” which suggests much about our own sense of vulnerability as a community, or indeed, my own.
READ MORE: Twenty years of Diatribe
2. When you first took on the Diatribe, did you think it would run for the next 20 years?
When the Diatribe first came into being, I was a Greek-Australian male in my early twenties and thus my conception of time was very different to what it is now. I could not see beyond the next Friday night, let alone, two decades. These days, I can’t see past the next zoom home-schooling session.
3. What if you had a crystal ball, how long can you carry on writing the column for?
Approaching middle age, my crystal balls are not what they once were and thus an opaque mist shrouds my future capabilities. However, I find the Greek discourse as it pertains to Australia an inexhaustible source of inspiration. We truly are a fascinating people, definitely worth pondering and writing about, rather than letting others do so.
4. How many English editors have you had since you first started writing the Diatribe?
There have been many and all of them have influenced the Diatribe in significant ways. Nikos Psaltopoulos notably infused positivity, Argyris Argyropoulos injected passion, George Hatzimanolis vainly tried to teach me to be cool, Fotis Kapetopoulos became my guru, Kostas Karamarkos provided sage advice and political perspective, Nellie Skoufatoglou encouraged me to view things from a multiplicity of perspectives and of course the current incumbent, Mary Sinanidis is a paragon of editorial perfection. Many of these editors have become lifelong friends, something for which I am extremely thankful.
5. Which article has been your stand-out piece?
The pieces that deal with emerging social issues in our community are ones I feel passionate about, whether these deal with Greek language education, aged care and/or abuse or recognising the untold stories of Greek-Australian women. Underlining all of these articles is the same message: We need to be kind to each other, supportive and inclusive. Oh, and also the piece where I advocated to the Greek Foreign Ministry that Consular Staff be allowed to undergo the requisite surgery in order to cosmetically enhance Greece’s image.
5. Week in and week out. Do you ever get writer’s block?
All of us have something to say. Being given the opportunity to say it is a precious privilege and Neos Kosmos occupies the centre of our discourse formation. The way it fosters discussion and debate, facilitates the formation of multiple narratives and engenders a sense of identity and belonging is remarkable and deserves specialist study. I am extremely grateful to Neos Kosmos for having been permitted to contribute to that process. Also, I am extremely non-communicative in social settings and Neos Kosmos provides me with the opportunity to propagate the illusion that I am possessed of personality.
6. What has been the most interesting connection to come from writing the column?
I marvel at finding the Diatribe periodically being cited in books and academic journals, or finding translations of the articles in Arabic and Russian. Most significantly, I am heartened when readers get in touch, as they often do, to debate or dispute the topics under discussion. Their suggestions and criticisms broaden my own perspective and increase my sensitivity to the multifaceted nature of our community and the way it defies stereotypes. In the process some close-knit friendships have been forged. The writing of the column has also facilitated dialogue with other ethnic communities who have markedly different understandings of some of the events examined. I consider that dialogue a very necessary and valuable consequence of the writing process.
7. You’ve just written the children’s book, “Soumela and the Magic Kemenche”, so do you think we may expect a book for adults any time soon?
These days I am working on finalising a collection of short stories in Greek entitled «Εικονοκλάσματα» (Iconoclasms). My chosen language for writing literature is Greek and my previous published poetry collections have all been in Greek. This ensures that the work is read (and criticised) by the least amount of readers as possible.