Sotiropoulos, Ersi 1953-

PERSONAL: Born 1953, in Patras, Greece. Education: University of Florence, B.A., M.A.

ADDRESSES: Home— Greece.

CAREER: Writer, poet. Greek Embassy, Rome, Italy, counsellor of cultural affairs, 1983-1991; Greek Film Centre, Athens, Greece, head of press office, 1994-1996;Elefterotypia (newspaper), Greece, columnist, 1998-2002.

AWARDS, HONORS: National Literature Prize and the Book Critics’ Award, both for Zigzag through the Bitter Orange Trees, 2000. Fellowships from University of Iowa International Writing Program, 1981, Princeton University, 1996-97, Kunstlerhaus Schloss Wiepersdorf, 2004, and Sacatar Foundation, 2006; decorated Commendatore dell’Ordine by the president of the Italian Republic, 1992.

WRITINGS

Vacation without a Corpse, Akmon, 1980, Kastaniotis, 1997.

Apple+Death+...+...(poems), Plethron, 1980.

Holiday Weekend in Yannina, Nefeli, 1982, Kedros 2001.

He Pharsa: Mythistorema, Kedros (Athens, Greece), 1982.

Mexico, Kedros (Athens, Greece), 1988.

Camelpig (short stories), Kedros (Athens, Greece), 1992.

The Flipperking (short stories), Kastaniotis, 1998.

Zigzag through the Bitter Orange Trees, Kedros (Athens, Greece), 1999, translation by Peter Green, Interlink Publishing Group (Northampton, MA), 2006.

The Warm Circle (short stories and poems), Ellinika Grammata, 2000.

Taming the Beast, Kedros (Athens, Greece), 2003.

Achtida sto Skotadi, Kedros (Athens, Greece), 2005.

Has written television and film scripts, including Cavafy, 1998.

SIDELIGHTS: Ersi Sotiropoulos was born in 1958, in Patras, Greece. She studied philosophy and cultural anthropology in Florence, Italy, before going on to become a writer, poet, and screenwriter. She is the author of several books, as well as scripts for film and television. In 2000 her novel Zigzag through the Bitter Orange Trees won both the National Literature Prize of Greece and the Book Critics’ Award. The novel tells the stories of four young modern-day Greeks whose lives intersect. There is Sid, an Athenian who whiles away his days and spends his nights in a local tavern. There he meets Julia, a Goth-like girl with whom he has an affair. Sid has a sister, Lia, who is in a hospital with a rare, fatal ailment, and who fights with her nurse, Sotiris. Sotiris spends his free time following a young girl named Nina, who is living with her aunt and who, as an aspiring writer, spends most of her time watching her surroundings and therefore becomes aware that Sotiris is following her. A contributor to Kirkus Reviews remarked: “Some memorable detail and wry observations, but capricious character behavior and too many anticlimaxes will frustrate readers.” However, a reviewer for Publishers Weekly wrote: “Sotiropoulos describes shame and alienation so effectively that the narration feels voyeuristic—in a good way.”

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES

PERIODICALS

Kirkus Reviews, September 15, 2006, review of Zigzag through the Bitter Orange Trees, p. 928.

Publishers Weekly, September 25, 2006, review of Zigzag through the Bitter Orange Trees, p. 44.

ONLINE

Circumference Online, http://www.circumferencemag.com/ (February 1, 2007), author biography.

Griechische-Kulture Web site, http://www.griechischekulture.de/ (February 1, 2007), author biography.

Interlink Books Web site, http://www.interlinkbooks.com/ (February 1, 2007), author biography.

[Sketch reviewed by Interlink Publishing Group publicity director, Moira Megargee.]