Chennai Mathematical Institute

Seminars




CMI Arts Initiative Lecture
3:30 pm, Seminar Hall
Crisis and Greek Fiction

Panagiotis Gavriiloglou
Writer in residence.
17-02-20


Abstract

n 2010, Greece, as a result of catastrophic decisions taken elsewhere and horrific management on its own part, was plunged into the worst recession any country has ever seen in recent memory. The recession had disastrous consequences for Greek people of all stripes and stations, which have been documented extensively elsewhere. One of the things the crisis changed was the way publishing and book promotion was handled. As a consequence there was an immediate shift in the literature that finds its way in the center of the reading public’s attention. A whole generation of writers and readers have been defined by this new literary ecosystem. The talk will focus mainly on this process. At the end of the talk, the author will also place his own work in this context and read one of his short stories.

Panagiotis Gavriiloglou (b. 1978) is a writer, editor, and translator based in Athens, Greece. (He writes under the pseudonym Panagiotis Kechagias.) His first book, the short story collection Final Warning, was published by Antipodes in 2016. His fiction and essays appear regularly, in print and online, both in major daily newspapers and literary journals. His translations include: Prodigals by Greg Jackson (Antipodes, 2017), Solar Bones by Mike McCormack (Antipodes, 2018), So Long, See You Tomorrow by William Maxwell (Gutenberg, forthcoming April 2020), Billy Budd by Herman Melville (Antipodes, forthcoming 2020). Furthermore, he has undertaken a new critical translation of “The Gold-Bug” by Edgar Allan Poe (Gutenberg, forthcoming). Since 2016 he has been the official Greek-to-English translator of Golden Dawn Watch, an initiative by the Hellenic League for Human Rights to monitor and document the trial of Golden Dawn, the infamous Greek neo-Nazi organization. In the past, he has been a resident at Art Omi, Hudson, NY, USA (2015), and at Sangam House, Bangalore, India (2017).