Cross-cultural dialogue is focus of book festival starting tomorrow

Writers from Greece and abroad in parallel cultural events on Dionysiou Areopagitou

VIVIENNE NILAN

The theme of this year's book festival at the foot of the Acropolis is «Good stories make the world better.»

The European Commission designated 2008 the year of cross-cultural dialogue, and it is in this spirit that the festival has put together an extensive program of cultural events featuring writers from Greece and abroad, as well as foreign writers who live in Greece.

The 37th Book Festival fair starts tomorrow, with the official opening on Monday at 8 p.m., Georgios Psichalos, president of the League of Publishers (SEKB), announced at a press conference yesterday.

Some 300 publishers will present 50,000 titles at 228 stands.

Several foreign embassies in Athens are contributing to the cultural program, which is being coordinated by the Danish Embassy's cultural attache, Panagiota Goula.

«You might ask what the Danish Embassy has to do with this,» Goula told the press. And she explained: «Cross-cultural dialogue is one of Denmark's highest priorities. We see it as a tool for peace and understanding. We want to promote the wealth and diversity of European culture and we think books are an ideal way to do that.»

Tomorrow at 7 p.m. Bulgarian poet Lubomir Levchev will be present as his Greek translator Christos Hartomatsidis reads a selection of his verse.

Every evening there will be literary events - readings and discussions highlighting the work of writers from Greece, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Finland, Norway, Poland and Denmark.

At sunset on September 15 and 25 there will be readings of European poetry on Philopappou Hill.

Among the writers are Gazi Kapllani, an Albanian author and journalist who lives in Athens and writes in Greek, and Sofka Zinovieff, a British-born writer of Russian descent who lives in Athens and whose books «Eurydice Street» and «Red Princess» have been translated into Greek.

Despite opposition from the Central Archaeological Council, the organizers have once again managed to secure the same site. «Publishers believe the Dionysiou Areopagitou pedestrian zone is the most suitable location to promote books,» said Georgios Psichalos, president of the League of Publishers (SEKB).

SEKB runs the festival under the aegis of the City of Athens, with the participation of the Athens Municipality's Cultural Organization, the Danish Embassy, UNICEF, the Culture Ministry's Archaeological Receipts Fund and the Greek Parliament's Foundation for Parliamentarianism and Democracy.