I had read widely within the realm of Greek Literature and English or world literature when I became cognisant of the literature written within our Greek immigrant community. The effect was not an ‘explosion’ this time, but (no less immediate) a deeply felt love for these writings that held a mirror up to my parents’, to our community’s and, to my experiences.

I recall our beloved teacher in my final secondary school years in Modern Greek, the incomparable educator Kyriakos Amanatides, talking to us students about a periodical that he was thinking about establishing. About a year later, the Antipodes journal came into being. This ground-breaking publication is still being produced half a century later. Of course, we were too young and inexperienced in community matters to fully grasp the importance of what he was talking about.

Discovering Greek-Australian literature: A transformative journey

However, in a gorgeous irony, I was to understand the concept of Greek-Australian literature through a short story, ‘Lenio’s Wedding’, written by Kyriakos Amanatides’s wife, the well-known writer, Dina Amanatides. Oddly, I read this as a university student in the 1970s but not at any of my literature classes, in English literature or in Modern Greek language and literature. Our community’s literature was not incorporated anywhere.

‘Lenio’s Wedding’ was the first piece of Greek-Australian literary writing that I had ever read. I had never given the merest thought to the anguish of the families left behind in Greece. I had never realised how heartbreaking a scenario marrying in a foreign land was, with no family beside you to celebrate the occasion. The mother protagonist dies from grief at the end of the story, suffering a heart attack, so acute is her anguish at her daughter marrying on the other side of the world.

An historic confluence of literary minds: (L-R) Peter Lyssiotis, Chris Hemensley, Helen Nikas, (seated) Angela Costi, and Dmetri Kakmi. Photo: Supplied

I was transfixed by this story. I became engrossed in our stories and quickly realised their crucial place in this country’s literary, cultural, and historical grand narrative. I started to attend community poetry readings and, once I graduated, I was asked to launch writers’ new books which, at that stage, were all in Greek.

The launch of subsequent periodicals was always a thrill, particularly that of Chroniko, spear-headed by George Michelakakis which challenged our concept of ‘migrant writers/artists’ and their place in the emerging multiculturalism of the 1970s and 1980s; and O Logos established soon after by Alekos Angelidis, Iakovos Garivaldis and the Hellenic Writers Association.

The great and internationally recognised poet Antigone Kefala and academic Vrasidas Karalis. Photo: Supplied

Celebrating community voices: Writers, playwrights, and pioneers

In the 1980s I started to act in numerous community plays written by our own community playwrights, exemplified by Laiki Skini’s production of Vasso Kalamaras’ play, ‘The Bread Trap’. The opening performance at the Astor Theatre was completely packed out.

This was followed by my acting in numerous plays by playwright, Tes Lyssiotis, whose ground-breaking multilingual plays brought immigrant themes to the forefront of the Melbourne theatre scene: I’ll Go to Australia and Wear a Hat, and Hotel Bonegilla, are forever ingrained in my heart. These plays were not only packed out for season after season, but they were enthusiastically appraised in both our community’s newspapers such as Neos Kosmos, and by mainstream newspapers.

Greek-Australian literature has intersected my life at every turn. As an academic I have either showcased it through conferences and seminars; as a researcher I have promoted it through three post-graduate degrees/academic papers/monographs and journalistic articles; as a translator I have exclusively translated into English works by first-generation writers; as a community member I have celebrated it by directing writers’ festivals and book launches; as a second-generation writer I have engaged in the publication of my own poetry and prose.

Greek-Australian literature increasingly held up a mirror to the Diaspora community with which I enjoyed an intricate symbiotic relationship. I learnt so much from these writings, the detail of which filled in the gaps of my community’s unfolding journey and deepened my understanding of it.

Great literary and intellectual figures in the diaspora,( L) poet Nikos Nomikos and (R) academic Mimis Sophocleous. Photo: Supplied

The works of Ioanna Liakakou, Christos Fifis, Ekaterini Mpaloukas, Alekos Doukas, Yiota Krili, Yiannis Liaskos, Erma Vassiliou, Angeliki Vogdanis, Nikos Piperis, Iakovos Garivaldis, Sophia Cathariou, Soula Mousoura-Tsoukala, Eleni Frangouli-Nika, Dimitris Tzoumakas, Koula Teo, Nikos Ninolakis, Gerasimos Klonis, Fotini Troupis, Nikos Nomikos, Andrea Garivaldis, Thimios Haralambopoulos, Stathis Raftopoulos, Litsa Nikolopoulou-Gogas, Loula Papazois, Maro Nikolaou, Keti Pavlou, Pipina D. Elles – to cite a handful that come readily to mind – demonstrate the paramount importance of not stereotyping our first-generation writers as ‘just writing about nostalgia and the war’.

While they inevitably explore such themes, they also document post-war racism, the camaraderie on the factory floor that laid the foundations for Australia’s politically sanctioned multiculturism, the pain of linguistic isolation, the joys, and difficulties of raising children in an alien environment, the stigma of mental illness, the horror of domestic violence, the fear of dying on foreign soil.

Expanding horizons: Themes, generations, and literary achievements

Second-generation writers have explored further thematic preoccupations, often experimenting with language in a way that incorporates the bilingualism that informed their linguistic idiosyncracies. Angela Costi, Dorothy Poulopoulos, George Athanasiou, Vicky Tsaconas, Dean Kalimniou, Olympia Panagiotopoulos, N. N. Trakakis, Fotis Kapetopoulos, Maria Katsonis, M. G. Michael, Efi Hatzimanolis, Petr Malapanis, George Alexander, Helen Spyrou, Komninos Zervos, Jeana Vithoulkas, Melissa Petrakis, Chrisoula Papadopoulos Papas – to name a select few – have widened thematic parameters.

The pioneers of Greek Diaspora literature, Dina and Kyriakos Amanatides. Photo: Supplied

They explore experiences of alienation, intergenerational trauma, the challenges of exploring their sexuality, the horror of losing parents who had sacrificed everything for a better life for their children, through to the lighter joys of cooking, dancing, and notions of continuing ancestral legacies. Meanwhile, newer first-generation immigrants, exemplified by the writings of Dina Gerolymou and Dimitris Troaditis, for example, are further enriching our thematic range and transnational reach.

We have had many award nominees and award winners that have cemented our Greek-Australian community being regarded as a singularly ‘literary’ one within Australian mainstream parameters. Of the first-generation writers, Dimitris Tsaloumas, Antigone Kefala, Dina Amanatides, and Vasso Kalamaras certainly stand out.

Amongst second-generation writers who predominantly write in English the nominees/winners are markedly more numerous. They include Christos Tsiolkas, Π. Ο., Koraly Dimitriadis, Will Kostakis, Andrea Demetriou, Dmetri Kakmi, Tom Petsinis, Anna Couani, Spiros Zavos, Tina Giannoukos. Peter Lyssiotis, Zeny Giles, Angelo Loukakis, Fotini Epanomitis, Jim Sakkas, Thomas Papathanassiou, Luka Lesson and Hariklea Heristanidis.

The last few weeks, as I was writing up this overview, have been so interesting in terms of the extraordinary range and diversity that is inherent in our community’s literary activity. Koraly Dimitiradis launched a much-anticipated collection of short stories, The Mother Must Die.

I went to the launch of the Greek-Australian Cultural League’ long running journal, Antipodes as well as the launch of the Hellenic Writers’ Association journal, O Logos.

I attended the launch of Dean Kalimniou’s collection of short stories, Eikonoklasmata, written in Greek, the first run of which we were informed has sold out in Greece! I received George Vassilakopoulos latest book, To Skotadi tis Palamis, also in the Greek language: a beautiful collection of poems that entwine his passion for his life’s partner with that of the inherent power of language.

I was present at the launch of academic Nikos Papastergiadis’s latest book, a memoir, entitled ‘John Berger and Me’, that took the form of a wonderful conversation between the author and acclaimed writer, Christos Tsiolkas. I rounded things off by attending the Greek-Australian Cultural League’s award ceremony, celebrating the winning entries of the literary competition and the award-winning books.

As I always do, I am going to end with a quote from one of the writers – in this instance the poem, ‘Inspiration’ by the prolific first-generation writer, Yota Krili, whom I first met over 40 years ago:

Encounters

define life’s journey.

When the unexpected appears

some become unsettled

they may even block their ears

or tie themselves onto the mast.

Yet others

become inspired

plunge in against the tide

creating their own current.

*Dr Konstandina Dounis is a cultural historian and literary translator at Monash Education Academy.