Reading Club: Teenage Literature | The Fifth City of the Dorians

In March, the SNFCC Reading Club is dedicated to the memory of Filippos Tsimpoglou, Director General of the National Library of Greece (NLG).

In March, the SNFCC Teenagers’ Reading Club continues its meetings, facilitated by comic book artist and translator Thanasis Petrou as facilitator. Books of his include: Giannoulis Halepas. The Myth of Modern Greek Sculpture (on a script by Dimitris Vanellis, Patakis Publishers, 2019); Gra-Grou (on a script by Tassos Zafiriadis and Yannis Palavos, Ikaros Publishers); At the Battle of Marathon (Patakis Publishers, 2015).

The book we will be reading together this month is , The Fifth City of the Dorians by Kostas Stoforos. 30 Book Club members, aged 12 to 16, take a cue from this delightful mystery novel and engage in conversation, creating and discovering new worlds through the book's pages.

Don't worry if you haven't been able to read the entire book, or if you’ve missed our previous meeting. Each month, the Reading Club facilitator, Thanasis Petrou, will be giving us a new cue, announcing the book that we will all be reading together over the weeks to follow. At the end of the month, the group of people who have read the book (or at least half of it) will be meeting to exchange thoughts, impressions, feelings and concerns, triggered by what we have just read, whether we liked it a lot or not so much.

The plot

During Holy Week, a group of children visit the village of their grandparents on Mount Giona, in Phocis. It is a time filled with joy, reunions, music and songs, with friends and cousins from abroad. Everything seems idyllic. But a shadow will begin to be cast over Easter celebrations as the group of protagonists gradually discover that the ancient past of the area is linked to stories from the German occupation, all of which have dire repercussions on the present day.

This is a novel that starts out focusing on the traditions and customs of the Greek countryside to soon acquire a mystery plot, bringing into play mining companies, unscrupulous tycoons with entangled interests, unexpected archaeological discoveries, and issues pertaining to the protection of the natural environment.

The author

Kostas Stoforos is a journalist and writer. He worked in television for a number of years, and is currently cooperating with the Museum of School Life and Education. He regularly contributes pieces on the internet, in newspapers and magazines, mostly on cultural and literary issues. He is a Member of the Panhellenic Literary Association (PEL), Pen Greece, and the Greek Periodical and Electronic Press Union (ESPIT). He has written the book series “A Father’s Journal,” fairy tales and stories for children and young adults, as well as books for adults. Some of them are: The Leros Code – Adventure on the Island of Artemis (2016), On the Trail of Homer – Adventure in Chios (2018), The Cave of the Dragon – Adventure in Kastoria (2019).
 

A few words about the Reading Club facilitator:

Thanasis Petrou was born in 1971 in Thessaloniki. He studied French Literature in Thessaloniki and Paris, and holds a postgraduate degree in Sociolinguistics. In 2002, he won the first prize in the comic book competition (“New Talents” category) organized by “9” magazine of Eleftherotypia newspaper in collaboration with the AKTO School of Art & Design. From 2002 to 2005, he studied on a scholarship at the Sketch, Comic Book & Cartoon department of AKTO. He has worked as a French teacher, a translator, an illustrator, a musician. From 2005 to 2011, he worked with "9" magazine of Eleftherotypia newspaper. Since 2012, he has been teaching at AKTO. From 2008 to 2022, 16 comic books of his have been published by various publishers, both on scripts of his own and on scripts by other authors (Dimitris Vanellis, Katerina Servi, Pavlos Methenitis, Tassos Zafiriadis, Yannis Palavos et al.). His latest book is: “1923: Hostile Homeland” (Ikaros Books, 2022).

Sunday 26/03
13.00-14.30

ΖΟΟΜ
 

For children aged 12 to 16

Free admission with online pre-registration

Pre-registration starts on 01/03, at 12.00

To participate in the Reading Club, it is necessary for those who hold a position to have read the book of the month. (It is also useful to have it with them).

Kostas Stoforos book The Fifth City of the Dorians s available in Greek by Kedros Publications.

As part of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center's collaboration with the National Library of Greece, the book for the Reading Club has been chosen by NLG staff members.