Dimitris Troaditis’s books hit the shelves in Greece’s borderland
Source: NEOS KOSMOS
Nostalgia for Australia hit me hard while in my hometown in Greece, when I came across three books by Dimitris Troaditis during a recent visit to Alexandroupoli’s first co-op café-bookstore.
Featuring on the shelves were his latest poetry collection ‘Γέννες Ανέγγιχτες’ (Στοχαστής, 2023), and two books on politics and history, ‘Ο Ήλιος της αναρχίας ανέτειλε’ (Ελληνικές Εκδόσεις, 2017) and ‘Ελευθεριακοί και ριζοσπάστες της διασποράς’ (2019, Κουρσάλ).
On that latter, if you’re a reader of our Greek edition, you may have come across a 2020 story [https://neoskosmos.com/el/2020/11/24/features/2oi-istories-ellinon-metanaston-pou-den-tha-sas-mathoun-sto-scholeio/] introducing it as a book inviting you to step outside the comfort zone of the mainstream Greek immigration narrative.
Dimitris Troaditis wears a few hats; he’s a valued colleague at Neos Kosmos, a poet, a writer, a radio producer, and a social activist.
Born in Athens, he has lived in Melbourne since 1992 and has been published in literary journals and blogs in both Greece and Australia.
He travels to Greece regularly to attend book presentations and events in Athens, Thessaloniki and other cities.
Despite not having crossed off Alexandroupoli yet from his travel bucket list, his books have now reached the border city, 30 mins away from Turkey.
Members of the Azadi cooperative café-bookstore, which sells his books in Alexandroupoli, met Troaditis through Greek Resistance Bulletin, a radio show he co-hosts on Melbourne’s 3CR.
“Dimitris’ books have a wealth of historical content, and he writes on a range of social and political issues, which is why we wanted to have his books,” a member of the Azadi co-op told Neos Kosmos.
“Book culture is super important to us. It’s a conscious choice we make to support independent publishers and creators.”
The cooperative café-bookstore is the first of its kind in Alexandroupoli, a rather medium-sized Greek country town.
Azadi means freedom in Persian (Farsi), Kurdish, and other regional languages, including Urdu and Pashto.
And what is the meaning behind the ‘cooperative’ model, it operates as?
“It means that all seven founding members and workers in this space, we are equal and enjoy the same benefits; no one profits at the expense of others.
“It’s our way of living and working in humane conditions, within a Social and Solidarity Economy context.”
Those of us who’ve met Dimitris Troaditis know that this sounds like the perfect home for his books.
The original article: belongs to NEOS KOSMOS .
