Kostas Akrivos

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Kostas Akrivos (2005)

Kostas Akrivos ( Greek Κώστας Ακρίβος , born March 29, 1958 in Glafyres, Volos , Greece ) is a Greek writer .

Life

After attending a church boarding school, Kostas Akrivos studied Medieval and Modern Greek Literature . Since 1983 he has been working as a teacher of Modern Greek in secondary schools . He is married to a teacher. In 1985 he won first prize for young authors in a competition organized by the newspaper Ta Nea with a short story . Since then he has published numerous short stories, biographies , novels and also textbooks for high school . In November 2012 he was with his novel Ποιος θυμάται τον Αλφόνς (Who remembers Alfons), German title: Alfons Hochhauser - the barefoot prophet of Pelion on a reading tour in Berlin , Leipzig , Cologne , Ludwigstein Castle and Bad Homburg vor der Höhe .

Works (selection)

  • (2013) Αλλάζει πουκάμισο το φίδι, novel
  • (2010) Ποιος θυμάται τον Αλφόνς, Roman, Alfons Hochhauser - The Barefoot Prophet of Pelion , German by Hans-Bernhard Schlumm, Megalomania Verlag, Frankfurt a. M., 2012
  • (2009) Τελετές ενηλικίωσης, short story
  • (2007) Πανδαιμόνιο, Roman, Pandämonium - A monastery thriller from Mount Athos , German by Nicola Schüle-Maniatopoulos, Waldgut Verlag, Frauenfeld (CH), published in January 2013
  • (2006) Στρατής Δούκας, biography
  • (2005) Καιρός για θαύματα, Roman
  • (2004) Να μαθαίνω γράμματα ..., textbook
  • (2003) Σφαίρα στο βυζί, short story
  • (2002) Φωνές στην έρημο, novella
  • (2001) Κίτρινο ρώσικο κερί, prose
  • (1999) Το γέλιο της έκτης μέρας, novel
  • (1997) Στο κάτω κάτω της γραφής είναι ένα ψέμα, novel
  • (1995) Αλλοδαπή, short story
  • (1993) Η δοτική του χάους, prose

Kostas Akrivos is also involved in various anthologies as author and editor of the anthology series Μια πόλη στη λογοτεχνία (A City in Literature), which now comprises 18 volumes, in which the contemporary and historical literary life of Greek cities is described - including Constantinople , Smyrna and Alexandria . Akrivos is the editor and curator of the tape on his hometown of Volos and is represented with his own contribution as an author.

Who remembers Alfons?

The German first name in the title of a Greek novel attracts special attention . In the German translation by Hans-Bernhard Schlumm, the name is no longer kept secret: Alfons Hochhauser - the barefoot prophet of Pelion . The Austrian Alfons Hochhauser, who is already the leading figure in Werner Helwig's Greek novels and can be seen in his films as an employee of the diving pioneer Hans Hass ; he is the protagonist of the novel. The narrator recalls after the morning reading a newspaper article about skyscrapers vague, even as a child of this remarkable man to have heard. He immediately begins an impatient search for all available information about him and lets the reader participate in the captivating adventure of his extensive research : he questions his parents , journalists , fellow writers and ever new Greek and German contemporary witnesses , he researches on the Internet and in archives and evaluates diaries and records from Hochhauser himself. He has documents translated into German and looks for traces in the Greek novels by Werner Helwig and in the films and expedition reports of the marine researcher Hans Hass. In Pelion, the mountainous landscape near Volos, the narrator visits the places where skyscrapers stayed.

This exciting process creates an ever more vivid picture of Hochhauser's personality before the eyes of the reader . But dark shadows also fall on this image of the freedom-loving loner : His involvement in dynamite fishing . Did he help with the recovery and embezzlement of ancient finds? And most importantly: was he a Nazi ? Did he spy for Germany? What role did he really play during the German occupation in Greece?

During the research, the narrator asks himself again and again why this person fascinates him so much, although he leads a completely different life and it would be impossible for him to exist so independently, without need and insecurity. “It was as if I had seen a reflection of my own in the mirror of his life, but wrong: everything that he has achieved and what I would have liked to have done but never did: wondrous journeys, adventures, extraordinary experiences, strong emotions. In a few words a rousing, special life “ And then there is the death of the protagonist, who deeply impresses the narrator. Right from the start he resolved to climb the ridge on which Hochhauser self-determinedly froze to death in January 1981. This project runs through the novel like an unfulfilled promise. Only at the very end does the venture succeed and becomes the narrator's “ school leaving certificate ” and the kairos , the right time. Now he can write the novel.

With his high-rise novel, Kostas Akrivos not only wants to introduce his readers to an impressive personality , he also wants to provide an answer to the deep crisis in which his country finds itself. A few sentences from an interview with him may prove this: “I am of the opinion that Greek prose writing now has its golden chance, namely to daringly describe the garbage dump into which we have fallen and at the same time in its own way the To show life saving that we can go to save us ” . “In my opinion, what we need is a clear view, especially of the other, of the“ foreign ”on the principles that make up our culture . Because today we pay for the arrogance of the last few years. How little we cared about the homeless, about the man who stretched out his hand for our generosity, and we denied him, immersed in the comfort of lifestyle , plastic life and easy, quick enrichment. Alfons, I say with all sorrow, was the most Greek person I met. Would God have left descendants ”.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ακρίβος, Κώστας on biblionet.gr (Greek), accessed on January 9, 2017.
  2. ↑ [1] , accessed on January 29, 2017.
  3. ↑ a b Kostas Akrivos: Alfons taught me thoroughly what innocence and dignity are . Interview with Kostas Akrivos in the supplement Εκδοσεις / 3, October 2010 of the daily newspaper ΘΕΣΣΑΛΙΑ, German by Günter Brune

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Akrivos, Kostas
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Greek writer
DATE OF BIRTH March 29, 1958
PLACE OF BIRTH Volos