Koraly Dimitriadis’s poetry film, Yiayia Mou (my grandmother) has been shortlisted for the Woollahra Digital Literary Awards in the poetry section.
The film, which depicts Dimitriadis’s Cypriot grandmother’s heartbreak of having to send her daughters to be married to Australia, has been screened at various international film festivals including locally at the Melbourne Documentary Film Festival, and was a finalist for the Multicultural Film Festival.
“It means a lot to me personally, for my grandmother’s story to reach a wider audience, because her story is the story of so many women who had to send their daughters overseas to be married with no choice in the matter,” she told Neos Kosmos.
To be recognised for her poetry in Australia, by a reputable poetry award, also means a lot to Dimitriadis for all the hurdles she has faced.
“I built my publishing company from the ground up, going from bookshop to bookshop, and then getting a distributor on board. Despite selling thousands of copies of my poetry books, I haven’t been able to make significant inroads with the poetry establishment,” she said.
When publisher Puncher and Wattmann wanted to publish her short story collection she was pleased, for it had been finished for 10 years and sitting in her drawer, just like her unpublished novel has been.
“I talk about these things not to be bitter, but to inspire others who don’t fit the “correct mould” of their dreams and ambitions, that sometimes we have to go about things in a roundabout way. That’s why I called my poetry press Outside The Box Press.”
Dimitriadis’s ability to act, perform and make films for her poetry has been key for her recognition, opening up new avenues.
More audiences have been able to see her work through social media, theatre and the short film space.
“I didn’t ever expect to have my films included for film festivals when I started out. Being shortlisted for the Multicultural Film Festival led to SBS publishing the poem,” she said.
Woollahra Digital Literary Awards recognise poetry published (self-published doesn’t count) digitally in the first instance. This made her poem eligible for the prize.
“The kinds of literary journals that are included on shortlists for such prizes have often felt inaccessible to me because of the way I write my poetry. So creating films has provided broader opportunities for my poetry,” Dimitriadis said.
Dimitriadis has also been invited to take part at the Addi Road Writers Festival in Marrickville, Sydney on Saturday, November 23.
The Writers Festival, has the theme of Cost of living, and Dimitriadis will speak on a panel at 2:30pm with Walkley Award winning journalist Malcolm Knox, and Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Newcastle Steven Threadgold.
She said director of the festival, Mark Mordue stumbled across her debut short story collection, The Mother Must Die, and he thought her voice would be a good addition to the conversation.
“As a single mum writer from a culturally and linguistically diverse background, but also one who is self-made. The conversation will centre around being human in this complex world, and the ‘costs’ attached to it, especially when it comes to the cost of speaking truths.”
The Woollahra Digital Literary Award winners will be announced on Tuesday November 26.
The Addi Road Writers’ Festival is on Saturday November 23, 11am-6pm.
To vote, book or find more information visit the respective websites.
