Occupation Writer, translator Role Writer Name Vassilis Alexakis | Period 20th/21st century Nationality Greek Movies Eleftheri katadysi | |
 | ||
Books L'Enfant grec, Ap. J.-C., Foreign Words Awards Grand Prix du roman de l'Academie francaise Nominations Prix Goncourt des Lyceens, Prix Goncourt, Goncourt List, Choice of the Orient, Goncourt List, Poland's Choice Similar People Jean‑Marc Roberts, Giorgos Panousopoulos, Vassilis Vassilikos, Nikos Kazantzakis | ||
Vassilis alexakis in conversation at world writers festival native tongue in french
Vassilis Alexakis (Greek: Βασίλης Αλεξάκης; born Athens, 12 December 1943) is a Greek-French writer and self-translator of numerous novels in Greek, his mother tongue, and French.
Contents
- Vassilis alexakis in conversation at world writers festival native tongue in french
- Ifa vassilis alexakis le premier mot
- Biography
- Works in French
- Works in Greek
- Books on Vassilis Alexakis
- References
Ifa vassilis alexakis le premier mot
Biography
Alexakis, the son of actor Giannis Alexakis, was born in Greece. He first came to France in 1961 to study journalism at the university in Lille and returned to Greece in 1964 to perform his military service. Because of the military junta he went into exile to Paris in 1968 and stayed. Today he spends most of his time in Paris but also travels regularly to Greece. Part of his experiences of his military service in the experimental Armed Forces Television (TED) was depicted in the cult Greek 1984 film Loafing and Camouflage, directed by Nikos Perakis, who served alongside Alexakis in TED. Alexakis' analogue is Pvt. Savidis, played by Giannis Chatziyannis.
In his literary work he continues to draw from both Greek and French culture. In 1974 he published his first book Le Sandwich, written in French. The first book directly written in Greek was Talgo, published in 1981. By writing Talgo and later on La langue maternelle directly in Greek, he wanted to prove himself that he was still able to write in his mother tongue. He self-translated Talgo into French and since then he writes each book in French and Greek. In darkly humorous prose, he combines autobiography, history, fantasy, and suspense. In 2006, Les mots étrangers was translated by Alyson Waters and published under the title Foreign Words; this was the first of his novels to be translated into English. In 1995, he received the prestigious Prix Médicis for La langue maternelle. In 2007, he received the Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française for Ap. J.-C.
Works in French
Works in Greek
Books on Vassilis Alexakis
Bessy, Marianne (2011): Vassilis Alexakis: Exorciser L'exil. Rodopi.