Delving Deeper Into Hellas: Anglophone Writers on Greece

Whether they arrived as archaeologists, anthropologists, soldiers or scholars, Anglophone writers over the past century have reacted in myriad ways to the beauty of Greece, its history and its complex political and human realities: From the sensuality of Henry Miller to the school-boy enthusiasm of Patrick Leigh-Fermor and from the hedonism of Lawrence Durrell to the Orthodox spirituality of Philip Sherrard and the political engagement of Kevin Andrews. The genteel art of travel writing has been replaced by the voices of authors like Sofka Zinovieff and Alicia Stallings who have made Greece their homeland. Greece is no longer the exotica to be admired from afar, but an evolving reality whose hopes and fears have to be shared in order to be understood. Bruce Clark worked as an international-news journalist for more than 40 years, with postings in Paris, Athens, Moscow and Washington, D.C. Born in Northern Ireland in 1958 and educated at Cambridge University, he has always had a strong interest in the ancient and modern history of Greece. His book "Twice A Stranger" — an account of the Lausanne Convention on Population Exchange and its consequences — won the Runciman Prize in 2007. In October 2021, he published "Athens: City of Wisdom" — a narrative history of the city from pre-historic times to the present day. Between 1982 and 1986 he was the first expatriate correspondent posted to Greece by Reuters. In September 2022 he was awarded the Golden Cross of the Order of Phoenix for services to Greek culture and history.