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Evridiki Pericleous-Papadopoulou

Photo credits: ©Petros Petrides
Photo credits: ©Petros Petrides

Biography

Evridiki Pericleous-Papadopoulou was born in Nicosia. She worked in Secondary Education, at the Grammar School Nicosia as Director of Culture and Music teacher. She created the Chora Art and Culture Center, the Gallery and the Chora Theater. She writes poetry, prose and plays. She is also involved in research. In 2005 she was awarded the State Poetry Prize for her poetry collection Choras istoresis. Her novel, As Truly. The Life of Charitas Mantoles, received favorable reviews and was also dramatized and performed on stage. Her plays have been awarded by the Ministry of Education and Culture of Cyprus, the Cyprus Theatre Organization (CTO) and Theatre One.

Nominated book : καὶ πολλὰ ἐπικράνθη - Η Ελένη της Καρπασίας (Sorely Grieved: Eleni of Karpasia)

Summary

Sorely Grieved: Eleni of Karpasia is inspired by the remarkable life of Eleni Foka, a Greek teacher from Ayia Triada, in Karpasia, who, in the aftermath of 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus, chose to remain in the enclave to teach the few children whose families refused to abandon their ancestral homes under daily intimidation, surveillance, and sabotage by the occupying forces. The work is grounded in testimonies of Eleni Foka’s enclaved pupils and Foka herself, personally collected by the author, who undertook ten-year extensive research in collaboration with historians to ensure both accuracy and proper documentation. Most of these experiences are refracted through fictionalized characters, a deliberate narrative strategy designed to safeguard individuals whose identities or circumstances remain sensitive or currently at risk. The reader is thus invited to read between the lines, to decode silences and omissions, and to attend to what remains deliberately unspoken.

Photo credits: Periklis Douvitsas

Excerpts