Spotlight on Greek Australian writers through new anthologies
Dr Konstandina Dounis’ newly established publishing house ‘SeaRiver Press’ is slated to showcase the works of numerous Greek Australian writers through upcoming anthologies ‘In the Name of Justice, In Honour of Home’ and ‘In Homer’s Light’.
The anthologies will serve as the latest contribution by SeaRiver Press to highlighting the skills of Greek Australian writers, with it having recently published Dr Dounis’ book ‘A New History of Greek-Australian Literature’ which examined over 1000 works.
The first anthology, ‘In the Name of Justice, in Honour of Home’, will be comprised of poems and prose centred around the themes of social justice and the concept of the ‘homeland’.
It will include over 50 first-generation Greek Australian writers, with Dr Dounis to translate the selected works into English.
Work on the anthology has commenced with a current estimate for its publication, accounting for the time needed to translate the texts, being December 2027.
The second anthology, ‘In Homer’s Light’, will showcase first- and second-generation Greek Australian writers, with around 50 having already been approached, as they contribute pieces about a Greek word that resonates/holds special meaning to them.
Regarding ‘In Homer’s Light’, Dr Dounis said in a press release:
“It recently occurred to me that whatever the degree of Greek spoken by second- and third-generation Greek Australians, there is a general cognisance of Greek words as contextualised within the experience of Diaspora, informed by a confluence of different modes of thought and experiences.”
She added: “It is for this reason that, for this particular anthology, I have invited authors to take part who were born in Australia or who arrived as very young children, their formative experiences influenced by bicultural and bilingual (possibly even multilingual) complexities.”
The press release noted publication is proposed for early 2027 and could possibly coincide with the celebrations around International Greek Language Day.
