New Anthology Brings Contemporary Greek Fiction to English-Speaking Audiences

MNEMOSYNI’S MUSINGS…

Maria A. Karamitsos

You’ve heard of Mnemosyni, the Greek goddess of memory. Mythology buffs will know that she’s also the goddess of storytelling—and mother of the Muses! So, it’s only fitting to name a literary column in her honor. Here, you’ll learn about authors, poets, books, and all things “Greek” literary.
By: Maria A. Karamitsos

New Anthology Brings Contemporary Greek Fiction to English-Speaking Audiences

While Greece is home to many talented authors of contemporary fiction, few have found their way to English-speaking audiences. Now, thanks to a new anthology called New Greek Voices: The Best Short Fiction from Greece (Tiber & Hudson Publications, October 2024), works of modern Greek fiction are finally accessible.

Editor Helen Mitsios had long considered a Greek collection. “I faced a lot of headwind with this project. There was so little Greek fiction in translation that publishers didn’t want to take a chance, even though I know that sounds counter intuitive.” But this was too important to give up. “The richness of Greek culture and literary tradition isn’t something that stopped in the 20^th century. That level of excellence, expression, and creativity is alive and well. It didn’t stop with Kazantzakis, Cavafy, and other great writers. It’s still thriving.”

She looked far and wide in her search for the best Greek translators, refusing to believe that a shortage of good translators would keep Greek fiction in relative obscurity. “I couldn’t give up on finding translators who would do the stories justice. And I almost took it as a challenge to give these outstanding Greek writers the finest translations and the attention they deserve.”

The search led her to some dead ends. Until one day while browsing in an Athens bookstore, she found one. After, she reached out to the Classics Department at the University of Oxford. She got a quick answer—a Greek professor was enthusiastic about the rare opportunity of doing literary translations. And it grew from there. Ultimately, she selected four translators: Hellen Kalogeropoulos, Hannah Kent, Rosemary Tzanaki, and Panayiotis Xenophontos.

To bring the collection together, Mitsios researched and read. “There’s a certain level of excellence I always look for, and stories that move me emotionally. Hemingway talked about the one true sentence. I look for that one true story.”  Ultimately, 15 short stories made it into the collection, written by some of Greece’s top-selling authors. Several of them are translated into other languages including German and French, but for others this is their first publication in English. “They’re all thrilled to be a part of this and to reach new audiences.”

Authors included in New Greek Voices are Ioanna Bourazopoulou, Yiannis Efstathiadis, Maria Fakinou, Alexandra K*, Angela Kastrinaki, Tefcros Michaelides, Amanda Michalopoulou, Maria Mitsora, Yannis Palavos, Vasiliki Petsa, Gianni Skaragas, Ersi Sotiropoulos, Soti Triantafyllou, Thanassis Valtinos, and Zyranna Zateli. Surely, we’ll hear more from these exceptional writers.

image by Tony Winters

Skaragas, a renowned novelist, screenwriter, and playwright—some will know him by his play, “Lady of Ro” that has been staged in several U.S. cities—wrote the introduction. “He was with me through all the ups and downs of the project. Gianni’s writing is like being in the presence of an illuminated manuscript. He’s one of the most brilliant, gifted writers I’ve ever come across. He was a great sounding board.”

A professor in the languages and literature department at Touro University in New York, Mitsios is also a writer and poet, and she is the art & style editor for Wonderlust magazine. She has edited several anthologies, work she said she “fell into.” Of her anthologies, perhaps the most notable is New Japanese Voices: The Best Contemporary Fiction from Japan (Atlantic Monthly Press, 1994), which was the internationally acclaimed Haruki Murakami’s introduction to the English-speaking world.

“I was obsessed with Japanese culture and writing for many years,” said Mitsios. “I read everything I could find in English translation. At the time everything available was the older generation like Mishima, Kawabata, Tanizaki. I was curious about who the contemporary writers were, and it led me to doing the book.”

Among her other anthologies are Out of the Blue: New Short Fiction from Iceland (University of Minnesota Press, 2017) and Beneath the Ice: Contemporary Icelandic Poetry (Talisman House, Publishers, 2014).

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jeffrey Eugenides offered high praise for New Greek Voices.  “Readers of English already owe Helen Mitsios a great debt of gratitude. She, after all, was the person who introduced Haruki Murakami and Banana Yoshimoto to an English-speaking audience in her anthology New Japanese Voices. She did the same thing for Icelandic writers…and now, with New Greek Voices, she’s done it again, assembling the best and most important Greek writers in a single edition. Anyone interested in staying abreast of the world of contemporary international fiction, where much of the best writing is happening these days, will find this volume essential reading.”

New Greek Voices is available around the world on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

See you next time for more of Mnemosyni’s Musings.

—

Maria A. Karamitsos is a journalist, author, and poet. She’s the founder & former publisher/editor of WindyCity Greek magazine and former associate editor & senior writer for The Greek Star newspaper. Maria also contributes to Greek City Times and TripFiction. Her work has been published in The Magic of Us-A Moms Who Write Poetry Anthology, The Pen Poetry Magazine, Voices of Hellenism Literary Journal, Highland Park Poetry, Recipes & Roots, GreekCircle magazine, The National Herald, GreekReporter, Harlots Sauce Radio, Women.Who.Write, KPHTH magazine, and more. Maria has contributed to two books: Greektown Chicago: Its History, Its Recipes and The Chicago Area Ethnic Handbook. She’s currently editing her debut novel. mariakaramitsos.com