“Unearthing life is not futile, an elderly poet who had been exiled on Makronisos once told me. And he was right, I thought. Immortality cannot die. It sets sail upon the waves and the wind. Like the poems by Ritsos that were buried in bottles in the hills of Makronisos and journeyed far across seas and mountains. Like the whispered songs, the banned rembetika and the plays performed on those rugged cliffs, where no human life can take root, only the wildflowers of the rocks… I wanted to delve into that era. A dark period for some. A glorious one for those who remember it with nostalgia. A time of suffering for those who were denied justice.”
With these words, Giannis Tsiantis introduces his new book, “Petrokarava,” which is officially presented today, its first day of release, at the Book Fair in Pedion tou Areos.