A writer once said: the pen is mightier than the sword. Writing is one of the sweetest, most attractive and at the same time, most demanding arts. How will they manage to turn talent and desire into methodical work, refusing to lose their inspiration from the obstacles they will encounter on the road?
Moderator: Alexandros Theodoropoulos, Journalist
Experts:
Giannis Xanthoulis, Writer
Nikos Thrasivoulou, Journalist, Radio Producer, Event Manager at Ianos
Maria Liapopoulou, Commercial Manager at Ianos
A writer once said: the pen is mightier than the sword. Writing is one of the sweetest, most attractive and at the same time, most demanding arts. Young authors feel drowned in a sea of books in the history of mankind and thus they feel unable to tell their own story through their own pen. How will they manage to turn talent and desire into methodical work, refusing to lose their inspiration from the obstacles they will encounter on the road?
From the conception of an idea, to the printing of a complete story on paper, from the paper to the publishing house and from there, to the shelves of bookstores, how difficult and stressful does this route seem in the mind of a young aspiring writer? How can multiple obstacles be overcome so that a story can reach the hands of keen readers as a complete book?
But do these keen readers now form a modern and completely different audience compared to the past? Does the same apply to young writers, breaking down the stereotypes of the past? What role can marketing play in promoting literature facing a modern world immersed in a screen?
In this Experts Talk, journalist Alexandros Theodoropoulos welcomes Giannis Xanthoulis, the writer with 40 years of experience in writing, Nikos Thrasivoulou, journalist, radio producer at Alpha 98.9 and event manager at the bookstore and publishing house of Ianos and Maria Liapopoulou, commercial manager of Ianos, in a full-fledged discussion about the art of literature.
Alexandros Theodoropoulos was born in Athens and grew up in Lamia. He is a graduate of the Department of English Language and Literature of the University of Athens and a graduate of the University of Newcastle in the United Kingdom, holding a Master's degree in Media and Journalism. His academic interests concern global media ethics and the philosophy of global journalism. For his Master's dissertation he conducted research on 57 young journalists from 16 different countries, in terms of codes of media ethics, general philosophy and practice of journalism. He has conducted and presented research in both the UK and Greece. He works as a freelance journalist and freelance columnist, having published articles in various media in Greece and abroad. Since April 2021 he has belonged to the editorial team of ImpacTalk.
Giannis Xanthoulis was born in Alexandroupoli to refugee parents from Eastern Thrace. Throughout the 40 years of his writing career he has written many landmark novels as well as plays. He’s worked as a journalist (he is a member of ESIEA) in newspapers and on the radio and was also involved in painting. With sales exceeding 1.5 million copies, among his most famous novels are: The Summer Lost in Winter (1984), The Dead Liqueur (1987), The Paper September of Our Hearts (1989), The Pink That I did not forget (1991), The coffee season (1992), The Bes-Vges family (1994), The train with the strawberries (1996), ... then, the bees came (1998), The Turk in the garden (2001) , The Christmas tango (2003), Uncle Takis (2005), The snake's milk (2007), Istanbul - My ungodly fears (2008), The revenge of Silana (2009), Miss Pelagia (2010), The son of the teacher (2012), On Sunday we have a wedding (2015), which was awarded as the best novel of the year, and I, Simos Simeon (2017). His books have been transferred to the big screen and television and have been translated into many languages. He lives in Athens.
Nikos Thrasivoulou is a journalist with many years of experience, event manager at Ianos and radio producer at Alpha 98.9. He has also worked as a radio producer at Arena 89.2, City 99.5, Vima FM 99.5 with the show "In person" as well as at Proto Thema 104.6. At Ianos, he has invited more than 70 Greek writers in the series “meetings with writers”. In total he has interviewed more than 3,500 Greek and international writers, directors, composers and generally people of arts and culture.
Maria Liapopoulou was born in Thessaloniki. She is a mother of 2 children and has many years of experience in business administration, marketing and book sales. She spends her time in Athens and Thessaloniki, managing the IANOS culture chain for the last 10 years. Ianos is her second home. Negotiations, trade agreements, the evaluation of staff and the scheduling of major projects are all considered some of her strong skills.
