Category: Reading Greece

📚📚Οn the occasion of the publication of his book "Climbing the Peaks of the World", distinguished engineer and former President of the Pancretan Association of America and President of the World Council of Cretans, Emmanuel Velivasakis, spoke to Reading Greece about the milestones of his career, the way the book weaves together engineering, faith, culture, and diaspora, as well as about how being part of the Greek #diaspora community in leadership roles has shaped his professional path and worldview.

"The book moves between two dimensions that have always defined my life: the precise, rational world of engineering and the deeper, human world of faith, culture, and memory. I tried not to separate them, but rather to let them illuminate each other. Engineering, after all, is not only about structures of steel and concrete — it’s also about vision, persistence, and harmony, the same qualities that shape a meaningful life.

So the narrative alternates between the technical and the emotional, between the “how” and the “why.” A bridge, a tower, or a project becomes a metaphor for building endurance, connecting cultures, or spanning distances — both literal and spiritual. The immigrant’s experience, the devotion to one’s roots, and the quiet dialogue with faith give depth to the professional journey, turning it from a record of work into a story of becoming".

Greece in Washington
Consulate General of Greece in New York

📚📚On the occasion of the publication of the "Anthology of Greek Women Poets", comprising 19 contemporary Greek women #poets, into Polish, its editor and translator Leszek Paul spoke to Reading Greece about the book, the main themes the poetic works delve into, the challenges he faced while compiling and translating the anthology, as well as what makes Greek #poetry appealing to a Polish audience.

"#Greece is gradually being rediscovered by Poles—not only as a beautiful, hospitable country and a popular holiday destination, now more accessible thanks to improved living standards, but also as a culture of remarkable depth. Young people are beginning to realize that Greece is more than λίγο κρασί, λίγο θάλασσα και τ’ αγόρι μου—more than Zorba and souvlaki. It is also the cinema of Yorgos Lanthimos, the poetry of Cavafy—finally available in decent translations—and much more. There is a growing curiosity, a hunger to discover Greece from a different angle. And that hunger is worth satisfying".

📸 © Menelaos Liondos

Ambasada Grecji w Polsce - Πρεσβεία της Ελλάδος στη Πολωνία
Harmolipi Wydawnictwo

🎉Greece will be the Guest of Honour at the 44th Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF 2025), one of the world’s leading publishing events, taking place from 5 to 16 November 2025 at the Expo Centre Sharjah.

At the National Pavilion (Hall 5, Stand L13), 59 #publishers, cultural organizations, and institutions will participate, including 28 with a physical presence. Around 600 titles in Greek and other languages will be presented — editions from the Hellenic Ministry of Culture, its supervised bodies, cultural foundations, and both Greek and foreign publishers specializing in translations of Greek works. A central role will be given to #GreekLit, the #translation funding programme for Greek books into other languages, implemented by the Hellenic Foundation for Books and Culture.

Greece’s presence at SIBF 2025 will be accompanied by a rich programme of professional and cultural events, featuring more than 70 participants — #authors, #poets, translators, illustrators, musicians, actors, librarians, academics, representatives of cultural institutions, and publishers.

Greece will take part in the Professional Programme and the 15th Sharjah International Book Fair Publishers Conference (Sunday 2 – Tuesday 4 November 2025), held prior to the official opening of the fair. In addition, Greece will participate in the 12th Sharjah International Library Conference (SILC) (Wednesday 5 – Saturday 8 November 2025), which takes place alongside the fair.

As part of its Guest of Honour participation, Greece has prepared a series of Arabic translations of Greek works, including anthologies of State Prize-winning poetry and short stories, as well as contemporary poetic dramatic monologues.
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Greece's national participation in the international book fairs is implemented for the years 2023 to 2025 by the Directorate of Letters of the General Directorate of Contemporary Culture of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture, within the framework of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan of the European Union.

Υπουργείο Πολιτισμού
HFBC Ελληνικό Ίδρυμα Βιβλίου και Πολιτισμού
Greece - International Book Fairs