The Nordic Narrative in Athens

The Nordic Embassies and Institutes in Athens, the Nordic Library in Athens and the Embassy of Iceland in Oslo have joined forces to present #The Nordics to the Greek public through three different projects related to books and literature under the auspices of “Athens UNESCO World book capital 2018”.

THE NORDIC NARRATIVE IN ATHENS

THREE PROJECTS RELATED TO BOOKS AND LITERATURE PORTRAYING NORDIC SOCIETY, VALUES AND NORDIC COLLABORATION IN ATHENS.

 

  1. The Nordic Narrative in Athens
    Nordic Crime: A look into the Nordic society?

    Invited guests will participate at a round table discussion led by a Greek mediator where crime fiction and its portrayal of society will lead to a deeper analysis of contemporary Nordic society and explore why the specific genre has become so popular in Greece in recent years. Collaboration with several Greek publishers that work on Nordic Crime such as: Metaixmio publications, Dioptra, Psychogios, Kalendis, Fantastikos kosmos.
    Speakers: Juka Petaja from Finland, Jørn Lier Horst from Norway, Karl Berglund from Sweden, Kolbrun Bergthorsdottir from Iceland and Tao Bo Michaelis from Denmark.
    Coordinator: Journalist and book critic, Mikela Chartoulari.
    As a “thread of parallel events” prior and after the discussion, presentation of Nordic crime authors will take place from May 2018 in collaboration with Greek publishers and Athens 2018.
    Michael Kats Krefeld, Samuel Bjørk, Yrsa Sigurdardottir, Arne Dahl, Persson Giolito and many others will contribute with their presentations and discussions to this Nordic Narrative.
    Venue for Round table discussion: (to be determined by Athens 2018)
    Date: 31 October 2018 at 19.00
    Venue: Goethe Institute

    Parallel presentations:
    - 7 May 2018: Danish author Michael Kats Krefeld presentation.
       By Danish Institute and Psychogios pubications
    - 13 June 2018: Norwegian author Hans Olav Lahlum
       By Fantastikos kosmos and Norwegian Embassy, Athens2018
    - 19 September 2018: Event dedicated to Finnish author Mika Waltari.
       By Kalendis publications and the Finnish Institute
    - 30 October 2018: Norwegian author Jørn Lier Horst
       By Dioptra publications and the Norwegian Embassy
    - 01 and 02 November 2018: Swedish author, Arne Dahl and Petros Markaris
       By Metaixmio publications and the Swedish Institute

    - 04 December 2018: Icelandic author Yrsa Sigurdardottir
       By Metaixmio publications and the Embassy of Iceland in Oslo, Athens2018
    - 06 February 2018: Norwegian author Samuel Bjørk
       By Dioptra publications and the Norwegian Embassy, Athens2018
       

  2. The Nordic Narrative in Athens
    The roles and values of public libraries: The Nordic Paradigm

    In collaboration with the National Library of Greece, experts from the Nordic countries will be invited to host workshops for targeted groups of specialists on themes relating to innovative services, children’s and educational programs and best practices. The workshops will finish with a closing and summing up event the same day.
    Venue: New National Library of Greece, Stavros Niarchos Foundation
    Date: 30 November 2018
  1. The Nordic Narrative in Athens
    Nordic Travelers at Athens. Exhibition at the Nordic Library at Athens December 2018-May 2019

The Nordic Library at Athens participates in the festivities of the Athens World Book Capital 2018 by hosting two small-scale exhibits. The main exhibit titled Nordic travellers to Athens focuses on the idea of the traveller in its broader sense, at times of war and peace. Norwegians, Swedes, Danes and Finns have stories to tell about Athens from the 18th to the 20th c., stories proving the vivid interest in and commitment of the Nordic countries to Greece. The official opening of the exhibition is planned for February 18, 2019 and will cover a “spotlight” period of two weeks, during which several events will take place, such as lectures, guided tours and a book-binding workshop. Otherwise, the exhibition will be open from December 10, 2018 to May 10, 2019.

While travel is the main celebratory theme, another exhibit will also be presented on the ground floor of the Nordic Library, namely the Calas archive. This is a gem collection, quite unknown to broader audiences, that reveals Calas’ connection to the hyperrealist movement. Calas, a Greek-American poet and art critic still inspires the work of Greek contemporary visual artists, examples of which will be shown during the spotlight period.