Prize for Greek-Australian Writer

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)   Prominent Greek-Australian writer Christos Tsiolkas is the “overall” winner of the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book for 2009 for his record-selling book “The Slap“.  It was announced during a special ceremony at the Auckland Writers’ and Readers’ Festival in New Zealand over the weekend.  The prestigious Commonwealth award is accompanied by a cash prize of 20,000 dollars.  Tsiolkas, who lives in Melbourne, has written three novels and several plays, and is also a candidate for the 2009 Miles Franklin Literary Award, Australia’s top literary prize.  The Age (17.5) – ‘Blown away’ Tsiolkas takes prize

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Greco-Australian Connections

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA) In an article published at Australia’s Herald Sun, (15.4.2008), Peter Ewer reports on a special feature that keeps the peoples of Melbourne and Greece connected. “They seem to have almost merged in some ways. The cafes and lounges around Lonsdale street have the feel of Athens. But before the wave of immigration made Melbourne one of the world’s biggest ‘Greek’ cities, the two nations had forged a brotherhood in blood. It came from April 1941, with the brave but ill-fated efforts of a poorly organised British-Anzac force to defend Greece from Nazi invasion.” According to the reporter, the Greek community honoured on Saturday “the contribution of the Hellenes to the Australian war effort in the 20th century,” in the Melbourne Town Hall, while ten young Victorians will soon visit Greece as winners of the Premier’s Spirit of Anzac prize.