Greek literature

Dozens of people have been arrested at Iraklio's Nikos Kazantzakis Airport on the island of Crete on charges of attempting to travel with fake documents over the last week, according to local authorities.
Forty-one foreign nationals - 27 men and 14 woman - were arrested from September 9 to 15.

Cretan folk band Chainides has teamed up with the Ki'omos Kinite acrobatics/dance team in a novel interpretation of the early 17th century pastoral romance "Erotokritos" by Cretan writer Vitsenzos Kornaros. The performance aims to illustrate how the island's traditional music helped shape its language.

The prolific and esteemed Greek poet, novelist, playwright and translator Nanos Valaoritis has died, according to an announcement on his Facebook page. He was 98 years old, and "lived a life full of riches," fellow poet Dinos Siotis said in a Facebook post.

Roderick Beaton, an acknowledged authority on modern Greek literature and culture and the author of a biography of Greek poet-diplomat George Seferis, begins his latest book, "Greece: Biography of a Modern Nation," with a provocative question: "Who are the Greeks?

This year's International Festival of Literature and Art, organized by the Kazantzakis Museum in the village of Myrtia, close to Iraklio on Crete, has the celebrated Greek writer's travel book "Japan-China" as its starting point.

In 1914, the writer Nikos Kazantzakis visited Mount Athos with his friend the poet Angelos Sikelianos.

Two respected local talents, actress/singer Kariofyllia Karabeti and vocalist Manolis Mitsias, join forces at the Parnassos Literary Society for a series of concerts of emblematic Greek poetry that has been set to music, including poems by Sappho, Dionysis Solomos, Giorgos Seferis, Odysseas Elytis and Yiannis Ritsos. Performances start at 9.30 p.m. and admission costs 10-30 euros.

An exhibition of sculptures by Greek artist Alexandra Athanassiades, titled 'Beyond Cavafy's Written Word,' was inaugurated yesterday at the Gennadius Library, at the American School of Classical Studies.

When encountering a new country and its culture, I adopt two strategies: I visit the markets and I read the fiction. The markets tell me not only the cost of living but also the quality of people's lives. The books tell me the same about the marketplace of their minds: the price people are willing to pay for life and the values they put on those lives.

The northern port city's Teloglion Fine Arts Foundation presents works by Sotiris Sorogas in a show that juxtaposes painting with poetry, imagery and literature. The acclaimed artist's works interact with poems by the likes of Odysseas Elytis, Giorgos Seferis and Kiki Dimoula, prompting an artistic dialogue on subjects such as light, eternity and loneliness.