The Antipodes Festival 2012 will see the launch of a dedicated writers’ event, celebrating the cultural impact of Hellenic works, the contributions made by Greek Australian writing and the state of contemporary Greek literature.
Neos Kosmos speaks to Helen Nickas, co-convenor of the occasion. “I got together with my colleague Konstandina Dounis and we approached Bill Papastergiadis [President Greek Orthodox Community of Melbourne and Victoria (GOCMV)] and he liked the idea. He sent us to Leonidas Vlahakis, the chair of the cultural board of the Antipodes Festival, and it went from there.”
Helen and Konstandina share backgrounds in publishing and as academics specialising in Greek Australian writing, providing the experience and passion required for the challenge of organising this inaugural event. “We are very excited and enthusiastic. Whether a writer is born here or they came from Greece, Greek Australian literature encompasses many writers.” Helen believes that the Greek Film Festival is an excellent example of what the Antipodes Writers Festival can strive for.
“We don’t want this to be a one-off, we want to see it return every year and get better and bigger every year. A little bit like the Greek Film Festival – that started off as a very small festival, which grew and grew. We’re hoping this will be the case with the writers’ festival.”
A foundation of strong national writing and greater emphasis on extending the attraction of Greek literature beyond the Greek community, is a focus for Helen and Konstandina. Helen explains, “The general public is who we want to connect with, not just Greeks in Australia but the English-speaking public, whether it’s other Greeks or Australians who go to festivals.”
This optimism establishes a refreshing design for audiences wanting to experience deeper insights to Hellenic culture, too often battered by a media more intent on shock than understanding. ‘Homeland’ will be one of the topics of discussions. “The idea of homeland: what does it mean to them as writers’? It’s a good idea we are going to showcase Greek writers during this difficult time for Greece. Greece may have financial difficulties, but Greece has produced a lot of culture and a lot of very good writers from ancient times until now. “The writers’ festival will be promoting the positive side of Greece, which is its culture, its literature and the arts. This is a good time to do it,” Helen says.
The organisers have secured The Wheeler Centre in Melbourne as the festival venue, a unique Australian institution and the centrepiece of the Victorian capital’s UNESCO City of Literature status.
“All of the action will be taking place at the Wheeler Centre. We thought ‘why not the Wheeler Centre, which is the centre of books and ideas in the middle of the city next to the State Library, rather than keeping it to ourselves in Greek community centres and so on?’ We thought this would be a good place to go. “We want to take it further than the Greek community, we are hoping to make the wider community aware of how many good writers we have here in Australia and to showcase the writers from Greece.”
Although a complete list of guest writers is still being finalised, — the program will be ready by early May — some exceptional talent has already been secured, including Christos Tsiolkas, author of The Slap, Dead Europe and Loaded. The Slap was listed for the Booker Prize and adapted into a critically acclaimed television series in 2011.
“We are starting on the Friday night with Christos Tsiolkas in conversation with Nikos Papastergiadis and then all day Saturday and Sunday there will be more panels with writers reading from the works speaking about the works and also answering questions from the audience.” In addition to Greek Australian writers, the festival will broaden its scope to encompass a greater appreciation of Hellenic literature. Helen explains, “We are [also] going to present the work of those writers who are in Greece as well as Nobel Prize winners Seferis and Elytis.”
Although Helen has to be businesslike in making arrangements for such a large and significant event, her heartfelt affection for writing, particularly her love of Greek writing, is evident when describing her bond with Hellenic themes such as, “the country, the soil, the sea, the light; it will be a good time to tell the people who come of those who write about these things in their works.”
Festival Highlights Christos Tsiolkas in discussion with Nikos Papastergiadis Tsiolkas is a powerful voice in literature and as Helen explains, “in a way he probably calls himself an Australian writer, but because of his Greek background and the themes in his work, we want to include writers of his generation.”
Nikos Papastergiadis, Professor of Cultural Studies and Media & Communications at Melbourne University will anchor the opening night’s discussion. Tsiolkas is a product of the diaspora, a bold thinker and unflinching commentator. The discussion promises to baptise festival proceedings with honesty and forthrightness, a meeting of two exceptional minds, whose Greek heritage has informed their professional lives and the impact they have had on their readers. Arnold Zable Zable is an award winning writer, educator and migrant advocate. Helen says the festival is, “paying tribute to him for being such a good Philhellene, having written about Greece and been involved in issues to do with Greece.”
When contacted by Neos Kosmos, Zable replied: “There is a strong tradition of Greek writers in Australia, and there are many Greeks who have reflected upon the immigrant experience as well as the contemporary reality of living in multicultural Australia. An event such as this contributes to a general understanding of the great diversity of voices that make up multicultural Australia, and cosmopolitan cities such as Melbourne. By hearing each other’s stories we are enriched. By being ignorant of them, we are impoverished.
We discover both what we share in common as Australians, and the uniqueness that each culture brings to the table.” Other writers confirmed so far include, Peter Lyssiotis (artist and poet); Angela Costi (poet and prose writer); Tom Petsinis (poet, novelist and playwright); Phil Kafcaloudes (journalist and author of the novel Someone’s Else’s War); Jeana Vithoulkas (author of Love begins with an A) and many more. Antipodes Writers Festival, 15 – 17 June, Wheeler Centre, 176 Lt. Lonsdale Street, Melbourne. info@antipodesfestival.com.au. (03) 9662 2722.
