MANI LIT FEST
Auguste Corteau Auguste Corteau is the pen name of Petros Hatzopoulos. Born in Thessaloniki in 1979, he currently lives in Athens. He is the author of fourteen novels as well as plays, novellas and short story collections and is a recipient of the Greek National Book Award for Children’s Literature. He has also translated many works of literature into Greek, from Nabokov’s Lolita to Cormac McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men. An LGBT activist, in 2016 he signed a Cohabitation Pact with his partner, the first same-sex couple to do so after the law was passed in the Greek Parliament.
Skitsofrenis (Costas Louzis) was born and raised in Messinian Mani region, twenty kilometres from Kalamata. As a kid he started sketching obsessively for hours and hours, every day until his adulthood. He is a self taught artist and from 2008 until now creates murals around Greece and abroad.
Hugh McMillan is a poet from South West Scotland. His work has been published widely in Scotland and beyond, and he has won various prizes, most recently the Callum Macdonald Memorial Award in 2017 for Sheep Penned, published by Roncadora; he won the same award in 2009 for Postcards from the Hedge. In 2021 two new collections were published by Luath Press, ‘Haphazardly in the Starless Night’ and ‘Whit If? Poems on Scottish History.
In 2017 he was writer in residence at the Harvard Summer School. In 2020 he was chosen as one of four ‘Poetry Champions’ for Scotland by the Scottish Poetry Library, to seek out and commission new work. Recently he was given the role as editor of ‘Best Scottish Poems’ for 2021 and was commissioned by the Wigtown Book Festival to write a contemporary poem inspired by the classic ‘Brownie of Blednoch by William Nicholson.
His website is at https://www.hughmcmillanwriter.co.uk/
“Hugh McMillan writes poems that I think are special, at once local, personal and universal. Treat yourself.” ~ Andrew Greig
Maria Mavroyenneas - Mar Mor was born in 1970 in a small, historic Greek village by the sea; Homer’s Kardamili on the Mani Peninsula. Her powerful stories are inspired by nature’s influence on ordinary people’s lives and their interactions. She shows a deep, clear insight into the life of rural Greece and its secrets; where
hardship, traditions and legacy intertwine so well. Maria Mavroyenneas caught the “bug” of writing as a result of her friendship with British author, Sir Patrick Leigh Fermor, and his wife, Joan. Both gave her every encouragement and support from the beginning of her writing career. 'The Canyon's Echo' is dedicated to their memory.
marmor.mani@gmail.com, www.facebook.com/marmor.stories/
Photo credit: Dimitris Christeas
Chris Heath is the creator and writer of The World According To Grandpa series of books (now a brand new TV show on Channel 5) and has had a 20 year career as a TV Producer and Comedy Writer. He’s created shows for the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and CBBC, including Holiday of my Lifetime with Len Goodman and The TV That Made Me With Brian Conley. He wrote two series of a Radio 4 sitcom called Clement Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (with Marc Haynes) and has written for acts like Johnny Vaughan, Lenny Henry, Marcus Brigstocke, Rufus Hound, Roland Rat and Paddy McGuinness.
Carol McGrath Following a first degree in English and History, Carol McGrath completed an MA in Creative Writing from The Seamus Heaney Centre, Queens University Belfast, followed by an MPhil in English from University of London. The Handfasted Wife, first in a trilogy about the royal women of 1066 was shortlisted for the RoNAS in 2014. The Swan-Daughter and The Betrothed Sister complete this highly acclaimed trilogy. Mistress Cromwell, a best-selling historical novel about Elizabeth Cromwell, wife of Henry VIII’s statesman, Thomas Cromwell, published by Headline in 2020. The Silken Rose, first in a Medieval She-Wolf Queens Trilogy, featuring Ailenor of Provence, was published on 2nd April 2020. This was followed by The Damask Rose. The Stone Rose was be published April 2022 completing the Trilogy. Her new fiction, The Stolen Crown is now available for pre order on Amazon. Carol is writing Historical non-fiction as well as fiction. Sex and Sexuality in Tudor England was published in January 2022. The English Princess of Kyiv, a biography will be published in 2024.
For more news, exclusive content and competitions, sign up to Carol’s newsletter at: www.carolcmcgrath.co.uk
Follow her on Facebook: /CarolMcGrathAuthor1
And Twitter: @CarolMcGrath
Ann Richardson is originally from California but now from Kardamyli. Ann’s passion for oral histories led to her being commissioned to produce several family history books. She runs the Mani Memoir Group which meets weekly and includes a range of writing talents: from complete novices to people who have been paid to write. Ann believes that all lives are equally important and that we each have our unique story to tell. She helps her group explore and record their personal histories.
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Stephanie Rouse is a writer, reader and daydream believer. After a board level career in marketing, Steph has been privileged to study novel writing with the prestigious Faber Academy and Oxford University Continuing Education. She is currently touting her debut novel to literary agents while working on her second. She is a founder-presenter of Write Club The Podcast and lives in Greece and the UK with her husband and a neurotic cocker spaniel called Wilfred Owen. Her favourite form of procrastination is ‘research’.
Alizon Robertson is a crime fiction writer and academic based in Lancashire and Andalucia Spain. She has taught Creative Writing and English Literature at North West Universities for twenty seven years and has recently submitted her Cumbrian based thriller The Lantern Bearers.
Katerina Gyftaki is a Greek author living on the shores of Kalamata bay. She began writing fairy tales from a very early age and has published two collections of stories. She worked as a journalist for several newspapers and later worked as a professional story teller, accompanied by various musicians. Her first novel, Argantael, was a fantasy for young adults and was selected amongst the top ten best novels for teenagers. She has since published four novels for adults, with the fifth, Slava day, due in the shops soon. Her novel, First the Wolf, is in the process of being translated into English, and has received high praise from reviewers. Her latest novel has the title Travellers of the rain. Her books deal frequently with varying historical periods, focusing on love, mystery and adventure. She lives with her husband, a musician and composer, and her dog and several cats. They have four children who live in England and Greece. She loves stories, animals, and music.
You can find out more about Katerina’s work on her Facebook page, Κατερίνα Γυφτάκη συγγραφέας and Katerina Giftaki Beck.
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Mike Heath born in 1947 in Peterborough of a Greek mother and English father, has lived close to Stoupa for 14 years since retiring as a History teacher with 37 years service. An active sportsman he played rugby till the age of 47 and also was a keen hockey and tennis player. He has had poetry published in the past but has just had his first book, a biography/social history called “The Life and Times of Annie Williams. Last of a Fenland Dynasty” published. It is based on extensive interviews with a remarkable lady who certainly lived an atypical life for someone based in the middle of nowhere. She was a nurse during the Great War and witnessed many remarkable changes in society during her ninety six years. Her friendship with Peter Scott, the noted naturalist and artist, forms a major part of her interesting story.
He has also written a book about The Rolling Stones from a fan’s point of view which he hopes to get published after some major revisions.
He has also run several very successful music/film quizzes in the area which have financially benefitted GAIA and other worthy organisations.
Mike is also the father of the very remarkably talented Chris Heath who was a great success at the last Lit Fest.
To find out more visit the Facebook page Mike Heath - author
Neil Fawcett lives in South Manchester and writes poems from a blue shed at the bottom of his garden. He worked as a lecturer of English in further education before concentrating on poetry full time. Neil studied for an M.A in poetry at The Manchester Writing School, where he was fortunate to be tutored by the wonderful Michael Symmonds Roberts and Poet Laureate Carole Ann Duffy. He has been widely published in journals both home and abroad and has performed his work at various venues around greater Manchester, including the Anthony Burgess Centre and the Royal Exchange Theatre.
Pat Woolfe is a retired English and drama teacher from Manchester, who now spends most of the year in Stoupa, where she lives with her husband Mike, and numerous cats.
She is one of the founder members of Write Club, where she says she finally had the chance to develop some of the stories inspired by characters, situations, snippets of conversation she had been mentally filing away for future reference. Her previous literary efforts were often in response to the need to provide drama material for students, or members of the Youth Theatre she ran, and included several short plays. More recently, she has produced a number of short stories, often with just a hint of darkness, one of which won the 1st prize in our last Short Story competition.
Claire Papamichael was born in Athens in 1963 and studied Sociology in the Panteion University. She has worked more than 35 years as a freelance literary translator from English to Greek. Among the authors she has translated are Maeve Binchy, Marian Keys, Graham Greene, Sebastian Faulks, Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, Charles Dickens and recently Madeleine Miller, Alex Michaelides and Olivia Manning. She is currently translating The Saga of the Century by Rebecca West and two of the shortlisted books for the Booker Prize 2021.
Except from some attempts at poetry as a favour to friends, The Book of Katerina is the first book she translates from Greek to English
Suzanne Goldring.
Following an eventful career as a public relations consultant, specialising in business and travel, Suzanne Goldring turned to writing the kind of novels she likes to read, about the extraordinary lives of ordinary people. She writes dual time-line narratives to explore and question how the present is shaped by the past, featuring strong female characters.
Her debut novel MY NAME IS EVA draws on her experience of volunteering in a care home and was partially inspired by a cache of wartime love letters which were saved from the flames. Her second novel, BURNING ISLAND, is set in Corfu, a place of fun and beauty but also tremendous tragedy. This was followed by THE GIRL WITHOUT A NAME, which explores the impact of WW2 on lives in post-war Britain. Her fourth, THE SHUT-AWAY SISTERS, examines the lives of women during WW1 and the Spanish flu pandemic. A fifth novel, THE GIRL WITH THE SCARLET RIBBON, published early this year and will be followed by THE WOMAN OUTSIDE THE WALLS on October 18.
Guy Hanley was born and raised in Reading, Berkshire, UK (1974). He travelled extensively in south east Asia, hitchhiking there and through both islands of New Zealand before studying Economics and French at Birmingham University. Armed with a thoroughly average Economics degree he then studied and completed a Law degree, also at Birmingham University, before realising that he hated law, and ended up working in finance until 18 months after the global financial crisis hit.
He married Anne, who was born in Sunderland in 1965, on the same day that Michael Jackson died in 2009, losing front page headlines as a result. They honeymooned in Kefalonia, a place they had fallen in love with five years previously, visiting every year afterwards, starting their love affair with Greece. This culminated in a move to Stoupa, Greece, in 2010, where they have lived full time ever since.
Guy is obsessed with music and plays bass guitar for Barefoot Rock & Blues, with Chris and Steve, a covers band who have a weekly Friday residency outside at Patriko bar in Stoupa during the tourist season.
He adores animals of all sorts, swimming, mountain hiking, making mosaics, growing fruit and vegetables and also cooking'.
Hara Nikola (Haralampia Nikolakopoulou) lives in Greece. She studied Greek Literature at the University of Athens and holds an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Western Macedonia. Between the years 1992 and 1999, she worked as a copywriter for multinational
advertising agencies. She presently lives in Kalamata, where she founded her own school of creative writing in 2013. Her short stories and fairy tales have won awards in national competitions and have been published in literary magazines and anthologies. Her first novel is 41 and a Half Kisses from Mr Leroi.
Her other published works include:
I Dimiourgiki Graphi sto Gymnasio [Creative Writing in Secondary Education], (Athens: Ekdoseis Sideri, 2014)
Mellisses Iereies, Dio Nouvelles [The Bee Priestesses: Two Novellas] (Athens: Ekdoseis Gavrielidis, 2015)
Mia Tryferh Kardia Sto Vathos kai Alles Istories [A Tender Heart in the Background, short
stories] (Athens: Ekdoseis Thraka, 2018)
Bam! A Tragic Comedy (Athens: Ekdoseis AΩ, 2020)
Denise Barnes has travelled the world, unpacking her suitcase in a score of different countries which often became her new place of work. On returning to England, she set up an estate agency business which she ran and expanded for 17 years. Eventually she sold the business with the idea of seeing whether she could fulfil her dream of writing a novel. Unfortunately, she unwittingly handed over her 8-branch estate agency to two con-men! After an emotionally and financially draining three years when the pair did a moonlight flit, she was forced to buy it back again or she would have become bankrupt herself. Her memoir: Seller Beware: How Not To Sell Your Business, was immediately picked up by Biteback Publishing. Putting this miserable episode behind her, she sold the business for the second time, finding joy in writing her first historical trilogy. After some years submitting to agents and publishers, she had a lucky introduction to a commissioning editor who offered her a 3-book deal if she would write something fresh as Molly Green, and set in the Second World War. 'Molly' is now on her 9th novel for HarperCollins, with several of her books going to number 1 on Amazon.
She recently moved to a village near Lewes in East Sussex and is sad to say that her latest novel in the Bletchley Park series: A Winter Wedding at Bletchely Park (coming out in November) is the last one whereby she received the uncalled-for assistance of her beautiful white rescued cat, Dougie."
