Greek Australian voices explore memory, migration and identity at Melbourne book launch

Sunday saw a gathering of writers and publication lovers who came together to motorboat two chiseled but astir absorbing publications. Characteristically named “From Collective Memory to Personal Truth”, this lawsuit took spot astatine the religion hallway of St Catherine’s Greek Orthodox Church successful Malvern East.

The lawsuit was sponsored by The Greek Australian Cultural League and the Hellenic Writers Association.

Angela Fifis, connected behalf of the Cultural League and John Sachinidis connected behalf of the Hellenic Writers Association welcomed the guests, acknowledged the efforts of the event’s organisers and praised the writers for their skill and creativity.

The whole event, from its inception until its presumption was coordinated with implicit success and professionalism by Sia Papageorgiou assisted by her sisters Perry and Ourania.

In a country packed with guests, the lawsuit proved to beryllium much than conscionable a publication launch. It was a solemnisation of lit and creativity of a caller procreation of Greek Australian writers.

The archetypal publication to beryllium presented was a postulation of abbreviated stories by a radical of writers while the different was an autobiographical caller by Dr Chrisoula P Papas. Both books abound with stories which research memory, identity, resilience, and facing the aboriginal with confidence. The books were presented by two well known Melbourne writers. Angela Costi presented the archetypal publication titled We Walk Beside Our Past and Phyllis Dimakakos presented the 2nd book, titled In the Name of Me. Below is simply a little statement of each presentation.

The Author Chrisoula Papas with two of her guests.

We Walk Beside Our Past – presented by Angela Costi

This publication is simply a postulation of abbreviated stories by 9 writers, edited by Dr Chrisoula P. Papas who besides contributes with her ain stories. In the Editor’s words, “this postulation is simply a gathering of memories… Our mosaic of memories is simply a solemnisation of those who came earlier us and a span for those who will follow”.

Although divers successful their views and writing style, some aspects of the authors’ work are common. All are of migrant origin, either migrants oregon children of migrants, a information which seems to beryllium instrumental successful motivating them to write these peculiar stories.

For some of them, increasing up successful Australia arsenic children of migrant parents and starting superior schoolhouse with nary oregon small cognition of English posed a fig of semipermanent problems which impact not lone the child’s acquisition but his oregon her κοινωνικά outlook. Several of the writers, present arsenic adults, are capable to look backmost connected their puerility and bespeak connected those experiences. Other stories woody with experiences arsenic adults visiting their parents’ homeland. In either case, the consciousness of individuality and belonging look to beryllium under changeless examination, a information that makes these stories astir absorbing to work and bespeak upon.

The stories are grouped into 8 chapters, each section opening with a poem by Maro Nikolaou, who arrived successful Australia arsenic an big and for whom nonaccomplishment of homeland and nostalgia are very strong elements successful her poetry. The astir absorbing facet of this publication is the diverseness of themes, each of which are handled astir creatively arsenic pieces of modern literature.

An fantabulous portion of this presumption was the instauration of each writer and the speechmaking from each of a portion of their work. Getting to spot and perceive the writer of each story was successful information the item of this peculiar presentation.

We Walk Beside Our Past successful galore ways deals with the past while pointing the way forward. Migration was and continues to beryllium an endless tract of probe and for caller writers a affluent source of inspiration.

Melbourne’s Greek literate assemblage gathered astatine St Catherine’s Church Hall to motorboat We Walk Beside Our Past and In the Name of Me, celebrating stories of migration, individuality and resilience.

In the Name of Me by Dr Chrisoula P. Papas – presented by Phyllis Dimakakos

This publication is simply a postulation of memories of the author’s aboriginal beingness successful Australia, her experiences arsenic a superior schoolhouse student and the problems associated with her taste inheritance and her individuality arsenic a kid of migrants. She tells us however arsenic a student and overmuch aboriginal arsenic a young big she understood herself, her contiguous household and the world astir her. These memories, arsenic the writer explains, had lain dormant for decades, until yet she had the accidental (and courage) to bring them together successful the signifier of a biographical novel.

The publication is divided into 7 chapters which take the scholar done various stages of the author’s beingness from aboriginal puerility done to her university studies and eventual graduation with a PHD successful Education. The highs and lows of her beingness are galore and varied. I take the accidental to punctuation a fewer lines from the juncture of her graduation from Monash university successful 2021: “…I walked pensively crossed the stage wondering however I – a kid of migrant stock brought up successful a unsmooth concern suburb of Melbourne – got this far, joining the ranks of those connected my close – esteemed lecturers, supervisors and academics. Extending my close manus to shingle the manus of the Honourable erstwhile Australian Labor Party leader, Simon Crean – grade successful the grip of my near – I felt a flutter of pride…”

This item successful Chrisoula’s beingness epitomises her resilience and struggle to flooded whatever difficulties she came up against successful erstwhile years, and her determination to travel her studies successful education. The graduation ceremony, being portion of the past chapter, gives the content of a blessed ending to her story. Instead, it is followed by yet different low, successful the signifier of a depression, which she calls her “black dog”. I permission this to the readers to read, digest and bespeak upon, hoping they too will spot that the highs and lows successful Chrisoula’s beingness were the incidents that forged her resilient quality and enabled her to spot much intelligibly the way forward.

May these books beryllium a guiding unit not lone for the up-and coming procreation of writers, but besides for the older procreation who whitethorn person travel to this onshore arsenic mature property migrants with the anticipation of a amended life. They tin beryllium arrogant of the young generation’s achievements and promote them to proceed their originative work with enthusiasm.