The House on Paradise Street is published by Short Books, London. 15 March 2012
The final episode of Athens Unpacked. Despite the devastating financial crisis, the arts continued to flourish in Athens during the second decade of the 21st century. From wealthy benefactors creating impressive cultural centres to street artists and buskers improving the quality of life in the city centre, high and low cultures co-exist and nourish each
Episode 7. BIRTH AND DEATH THE ATHENIAN WAY Athenians remain attached to the traditions of the Orthodox Church, from lighting a candle in a little church while out shopping to wanting a priest at the major rites of passage from birth to death.
From popular songs to great poets, episode 6 of Athens Unpacked looks at the central place of poetry and music in Athenian life. Both the Asia Minor refugees’ rembetika and the traditional dimotika, ‘folk songs’ have influenced today’s creators and performers. The great composers, Theodorakis and Xatzidakis used the work of Nobel-prize winning poets lyrics