Athens Insider organises Two Literary Salons as part of the Athens City Festival 2023

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Acclaimed writer Irena Karafilly in conversation with Diana Farr Louis on May 15 at 7 pm at Insider Terrace

The first event in this series on 15 May features award-winning writer Irena Karafilly, whose latest book Arrested Song, a sumptuous, sweeping historical novel chronicles the story of an extraordinary woman and her lifelong struggle against tyranny. She speaks to Diana Farr Louis, author of several cookbooks, guidebooks and travel books and co-author of 111 Places in Athens that you Shouldn’t Miss. The conversation will be held in English at the Insider Terrace from 19:00 to 20:30.

Irena Karafilly is a Canadian-educated writer, journalist, and aphorist. Her short fiction has won several literary prizes, including the National Magazine Award and the CBC Literary Award. Her work has been broadcast, anthologised, and published in several countries, in both commercial and literary magazines; her articles have appeared in numerous newspapers, including the New York Times and the International Herald Tribune. Her first novel, Η Ασυμβίβαστη Μούσα, was a national bestseller in Greece. Karafilly currently divides her time between Greece and Canada, where she has published several acclaimed books.

Diana Farr Louis is a consummate Athenian insider. When not writing her columns in magazines or penning recipes, she loves investigating Athens’ vibrant food scene.

Award-winning writer Ruth Padel in conversation with Ian Collins on May 24 at 7 pm at the National Observatory of Athens

In the second series of the event, on May 24 we feature Ruth Padel, award-winning poet and novelist whose Daughters of the Labyrinth was acclaimed as a transformative novel about a daughter’s passionate quest for the truth about what happened to her parents in Crete during the German occupation. It is also a sumptuous and sensuous evocation of Crete itself, its landscape and culture. Ruth Padel brings a poet’s eye to this world of great physical beauty and gnarled legacy. In conversation with Runciman award-winner Ian Collins. The conversation will be held in English at the National Observatory from 19:00 to 20:30.

Ruth Padel
Ruth Padel is an award-winning British poet, novelist, and non-fiction writer best known for her poetic depictions of migration, both human and animal. Her involvement with classical music, wildlife conservation, and ancient and modern Greece puts her at the forefront of literary fame, most notably winning the UK National Poetry Competition. Along with building an extensive anthology, Padel has taught at countless prestigious universities across the globe, including Princeton University and King’s College London. Her latest book, Daughters of the Labyrinth was shortlisted for the Runciman Award in 2022.

Ian Collins
Ian Collins is a prominent writer and curator who specializes in art and anthropological studies, more specifically of East Anglian Art. He has written monographs on the likes of Rose Hilton, Joan Leigh Fermor and John McLean. Collins’s most recent work, John Craxton: A Life of Gifts, recounts the life and career of a rebellious 20th-century British artist and reveals personal stories kept hidden until Craxton’s death. This book awarded Collins the impressive Runciman Award given by The Anglo-Hellenic League.