6
7
Narrative
By majority, the Judging
Committee decided to award the
StatePrizeforNarrativepublished
in 2013 to Lefkios Zafeirios,
for his work
Me Evlaveia kai
Lipi
(With Reverence and
Sorrow) by Gavrielides Publications.
Me Evlabeia kai Lipi
contains short stories which
refer to the tragic moments of the history of Cyprus,
through an approach which is reflective and directed
towards trauma, memory and mourning. The
protagonists of the stories are ordinary people who
the narrator elevates to heroes and victims of the
mechanisms of power in an amputated homeland.
They are the enclaved of Rizokarpasowho are yet to
be vindicated; the lost brave youngmen of theGreek
Army Contingent in Cyprus and their parents who
meet at the cemetery of Makedonitissa; the student
volunteers who embarked like other Argonauts
on an expedition which failed, never reaching its
destination; they are also, however, the children on
whose faces hope is preserved. The narrator moves
within a “labyrinth with no way out,” not as a cold
spectator but as onewho shares in the suffering, often
in situations of impasse and tragedy. The reader can
discern an autobiographical substratum in the book,
but also an excellent example of the recasting of
personal experience into literature. The short stories
in the collection do not just preserve “the shattered
face of the island”, but are also stories of human
pain and persecution which acquire a diachronic
significance.
Narrative Shortlist
Me Evlaveia kai Lipi
, by Lefkios Zafeirios
(Gavrielides Publications)
Ntefol: Smyrni 1922
, by Demetris Karagiannis
Ston Asterismo tou Kynos
, (In the Canis
Constellation), byAndreas Michael
Best NewWriter
Alexandros Adamides won
the State Prize for Best New
Writer for his work
I Plirotita
kai i Aftarkeia
(Completeness
and Self-sufficiency) by Afi
Publications, by a majority
decision of the Judging Committee.
In Alexandros Adamides novel
I Plirotita kai i
Aftarkeia,
the young protagonist is an anti-hero who
is searching in adverse conditions to find his place
in the contemporary world of crisis. He travels to
Europe in search of work but also meaning. He
suffers, struggles to find a path and often finds it in
dreams and fantasies and in adventures which bring
tomind a detective film. The wonderful descriptions
and lively dialogue, the amusing digressions, the
reflective techniques and the intertextual exchanges
lend the novel an intensity which is redolent of
accomplished masters of the novel. The new writer
from Limassol skilfully conveys in his novel the
anxiety of young people in the modern societies of
alienation and poverty and the desperate struggles in
search of identity.
Best NewWriter Shortlist
I Plirotita kai i Aftarkeia,
byAlexandrosAdamides
Anagelasta: Ton Genekon je ton Skalapountaron
(Unlaughing: Of the Women and the Goblins),
by Stella Voskaridou Economou (Technodromion
Publications)
Children’s Literature
The State Prize for
Children’s
Literature
published in 2013 was
unanimously awarded to
Phanis Hadjianastasiou
for his book
To Deltio
Kairou tis Violetas
(Violeta’s Weather Forecast)
byABookworm Publication.
An imaginative and tender short illustrated story
that gets to grips with the young child’s need
for optimism, Phanis Hadjianastasiou takes a
somewhat romantic approach to the generation
gap in his book
To Deltio Kairou tis Violetas.
The story is narrated from two perspectives; that
of the parents’ harsh reality and that of their nine-
year-old daughter. The dimension of reality and
the imaginary, the conflict between the fictional
heroine and the adults over the thin line between
desire and discipline, all find a release through
little Violeta’s imagination. Upset after hearing the
weather forecast on the news, warning of snow
in the city and lambasting the activities she had
so been looking forward to, Violeta retires to the
attic where she decides to respond with her own
weather forecast. The young heroine, dressed in
her grandparents’ old rags and with her beloved
doll and teddy as her audience, she tells the
weather; but in her forecast, she offers a variety of
happy and creative activities for the children to do
while it snows. Thus, in her own childish, naive,
sensitive and magic world, Violeta is free from the
oppression and authority of adults.
The stylistic character of the text, with its
abundance of imagery and visual narratives, along
with the carefully edited language, the originality
in the conception and a successful illustration, all
contributed towards the creation of a very good
children’s book.
Children’s Literature Shortlist:
To Deltio Kairou tis Violetas,
by Phanis
Hadjianastasiou (ABookworm Publication)
Penelope
, by Andri Antoniou (Psichogios
Publications)
O Scandaliaris Gatos
(The Scandalous Cat), by
Maria Kanther (Parga Publications)
Fos sto Skoteino Domatio
(Light in the Dark
Room), by Frixos Michaelides
Youth Literature
The Judging Committee –
Anastasia
Katsiki-Givalou
(chairwoman),
Katerina
Karatasou, Elena Pericleous,
Kika Poulcheriou and Flora
Timotheou – unanimously
decided that the State Prize for Youth Literature
published in 2013 would not be awarded.
The youth literature books that made the shortlist
were:
Ton Kairo ton Amaxion
(Times of Cabs), by Tasos
Aristotelous (A. Aristotelous Publications)
Sti Refmania tou 3013
(In the Refmania of 3013),
by Philippos Zannetou and Dora Evangelidou (A
Bookworm Publication)
Tricha, Psira ke Fagoura
(Hair, Louse and Itch),
by Maria Olympiou (Neo Kyma Publications)
Illustration in Children’s/Youth Book
George Gavriel won the State Prize for Illustration
in Children’s/Youth Book published in 2013, for
his work on K. Chrysos’ book
O Arlekinos tis
Fengaropolis
(The Harlequin of the Moon Town)
by En Typois Publications, by a majority decision
of the Judging Committee.
George Gavriel’s illustrations successfully
accompany and support the text of K. Chrysis’
book, characterised by the author’s personal style
and charm. The figures are depicted clearly and
simply, giving the impression of being in discourse
with each other. The Judging Committee felt it
was a generally qualitative publication, though it
pinpointed certain elements in the design that leave
room for improvement and which to an extent, do
not do the illustration enough justice.
Illustration in Children’s/Youth Book Shortlist
George Gavriel for K. Chrysos’
O Arlekinos tis
Fengaropolis
Yiannis Yiannakou for Valentina Theocharous’
To Sheromilouin (
The Lollipop) by Terpandros
Publications
Sandra Eleftheriou for Katerina Tsitsa’s
Mousika
Paramythia
(Musical Fairytales) by Kalentis
Publications
Constantinos
Kougialis
for
Phanis
Hadjianastasiou’s book
To Deltio Kairou tis
Violetas
The members of the Judging Committee for the
State Prizes for Literature were:
Frangiski Ambatzopoulou (president), Pantelis
Voutouris, Kyriakos Demetriou, Yiorgos Kalozois
and Kyriakos Charalambides.
Minister of Education and Culture Costas
Kadis addresses the awards ceremony
