On 25 November 2024, the Centre for Hellenic Studies will host an evening dedicated to Nikos Kazantzakis, co-sponsored by the International Society of Friends of Nikos Kazantzakis for the UK. The event will take place at King’s Great Hall, starting at 18:30.

Professor Van Steen and Katerina Monastirli, the society’s representative, will welcome the audience. The evening will feature a screening of the documentary film The Last Voyage, produced by Aris Chatzistefanou, followed by a Q&A session with the filmmaker. Dr Lewis Owens will then speak about the prominent theme of the journey in Kazantzakis’s life and work, while Professor Gonda Van Steen will provide a brief introduction to Kazantzakis for students and newcomers to Greek literature. Emeritus Professor David Holton will chair the session and moderate the final Q&A.

Trailer of The Last Voyage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84A6mmwtQyo

Kyriaki Mitsou, the UK representative of the Hellenic Foundation for Culture, is graciously assisting with publicising this event, which also enjoys the support of the Greek Embassy in the UK.

Aris Chatzistefanou

Aris Chatzistefanou is a New York-based journalist and filmmaker. He has worked for more than three decades in international media such as the BBC World Service, The Guardian, Al Jazeera, in London, Istanbul, Tokyo, and Geneva. He has published three books on current affairs. He has directed six award-winning documentaries featuring interviews with Tariq Ali, Naomi Klein, Slavoj Zizek, Ken Loach, Samir Amin, Costas Lapavitsas, et al.

Lewis Owens

Lewis Owens was awarded a PhD from the University of Cambridge (Queens’ College) in 2000 for his thesis on Kazantzakis. He has published extensively on Kazantzakis’s philosophical and religious thought in peer-reviewed journals and is the author of Creative Destruction: Nikos Kazantzakis and the Literature of Responsibility (Mercer University Press, 2002). He is currently editing the proceedings of the international conference held last year at Queens’ College Cambridge, marking the 100-year anniversary of the completion of Kazantzakis’s Askitiki. A former lecturer at Canterbury Christ Church University, he is now an independent researcher and writer.

Moderator Emeritus Professor David Holton is leading authority on medieval and modern Greek language and literature, co-author of the Cambridge Grammar of Medieval and Early Modern Greek, and former professor at the University of Cambridge.

International Society of Friends of Nikos Kazantzakis (ISFNK): Founded in 1988 in Geneva, Switzerland, ISFNK aims to promote Kazantzakis's work globally. With sections in numerous countries and thousands of members, the society is led by Dr. George Stassinakis, a Knight of the National Order of Merit of France and Ambassador of Hellenism