Thessaloniki conference on Papadiamantis
For the third consecutive year, the journal L’Atelier du roman has organized an international conference on the novel and its progress today. With the first held in Kozani in 1999, the second in Thessaloniki in 2000, this year’s will also take place in Thessaloniki, from tomorrow to Sunday, as part of the European cultural program, Europe of the Novel. This year’s event is dedicated to Alexandros Papadiamantis and is titled Papadiamantis Under Other Skies. Fernando Arrabal is among the noted writers and literary critics from various European countries who will take part. The two previous meetings discussed the derivation and use of the term novel in different European languages, and the problems the novel faces from what we now call globalization. Here and abroad The choice of Papadiamantis was not based solely on the fact that this year marks the 150th anniversary of the writer’s birth, but chiefly on the enigmatic nature and charm of Papadiamantis’s work, and our desire to make that work as widely known as possible, not only in Greece but also abroad, and to hear foreign writers express their opinion to a mainly Greek audience. The conference proceedings will conclude with a trip to Skiathos and the house of Papadiamantis, a final session and the announcement of the topic of the next meeting.
