I Really Liked Your Latest Work!: Isidoros Zourgos presents his novel “Παλιές και νέες χώρες” (Old and new lands)

A Few Words About the Novel: In 1885, a man and a woman meet in Ottoman Thessaloniki. A bland joke, a few glances, and some secrets are enough to spark a romantic relationship between an innocent dreamer and a dynamic woman. In Athens, King George I reigns, in Ermoupoli commerce thrives, and in Thessaloniki, there is fog. The couple will travel through old Greece and later return to these places, which, years later, through the warm blood of wars, will come to be known as the New Lands. “Παλιές και νέες χώρες” (Old and New Lands) is a novel set in the Belle Époque era, a time often deemed the “golden age” by those with wealth and power. The book explores the lives of women suffocating under social constraints, innocent men, silent servants, Jules Verne and his imaginative tales. It is a novel about coastal lighthouses that illuminate the darkness, the sacred rites of water and the sea, the passionate human gaze, and the authoritative look. It reflects on the triumphs of the old and the new that have yet to find their names.

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“I Really Liked Your Latest Work!”

Five authors from Thessaloniki, five live interviews.

As part of the “I Really Liked Your Latest Work!” series, five prominent authors rom Thessaloniki will engage in live discussions with Angelos Mallinis about their latest books. These interviews, part of this year’s Dimitria Festival’s literary section, explore both their literary contributions and personal lives. Angelos Mallinis, President of the Parthenon Film Festival and author of the column “Between the Platform and the Track” in Exostis (exostis.gr), which features writings on books and reading experiences, will present Giorgos Skambardonis, Sofia Nikolaidou, Isidoros Zourgos, Thomas Korovinis, and Sakis Serefas over five unique Thursdays. Through photographs and Q&A sessions, the authors will reveal their lives through their works and the macro/microhistory of Thessaloniki. The detailed schedule is as follows.