Theodoros Grigoriadis

The concept of plural identities has underpinned the work of Theodoros Grigoriadis throughout his long career, from the groundbreaking The Old Rag, the first Greek queer novel, published in 2001, to his acclaimed Life at the Borderline, which won the National Award for Novel in 2016. In his latest book, Helsinki, he approaches the issue of identity through a refugee story, another theme close to his heart since his grandfather was a Greek refugee from Pontus. Grigoriadis was born in 1956 in Paleochori, Kavala. He studied English Literature at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and moved to Athens at the age of 30. He taught English in public schools for 29 years, organized a series of literary seminars for the Serres Public Library, and later presented and produced the literary documentary series The Language of Writing on the Greek Parliament TV station. He has written 12 novels, four short story collections, two novellas, and a theater monologue. His books have been translated into French, Danish and Arabic, and theatrical adaptations of his works have been performed at the Athens Epidaurus Festival and the Philippi Festival.