Versatile -journalist, publisher, prose writer, poet- with a rich work of writing, Vassilis Tzanakaris decided that the time had come to close in a book entitled “A child counts heads” (published by Metaichmio), 27 experiential narratives and short stories, diving deep within himself to meet himself in the distant past. Hard images, painful memories – but also some funny and tender ones – captured with his robust writing make for a particularly attractive read. The award-winning author talks to “P”.
Erather than a series of history books, from what need did these 27 narratives arise? A claim, perhaps, of the kid who counted rebel heads instead of stars?
Everything I put down in my last book lived and breathed in me for many years like the picture with the severed heads of the rebels and many others. So they had to find their way out sometime, but it had to be done at the right time. And I think that… Stefanakis (s.s. the little hero of the story) also helped. But I won’t hide from you that at other times I felt the need for them, but the enormous amount of research work of my other books did not allow me to do so.
How did you experience this face-to-face meeting with your past, memories, losses while capturing them on paper?
I was happy because through this meeting I was given the opportunity to deal with all that you mention and especially the losses which, if anything, are the most painful. You must someday be able to come face to face with all that made up what you had and lost.
You write somewhere that the times you felt disappointment were more than the times you felt fear. Which of the two emotions leaves deeper inner scars?
Disappointment of course, which I experienced not a few times and especially when it comes from people very close to you or from people you trusted or admired.
“We forget, we forget, my general” you say to Manolakis Papas, in an imaginary meeting in a café in Amman, which you describe in your short story “From my sleep with the commander-in-chief!”. Do we forget, learn or care, do you think?
Most of the time we forget and then we don’t care. These are also two of the weaknesses of the Greek, not wanting to learn and then being indifferent. Both I think lead him down wrong paths, even in his everyday life.
Journalism, history, prose, poetry. How would you describe your relationship with each of them?
Romantic and passionate. I put journalism next to my name. I served the story with as much respect and honesty as I could. Prose is pervasive in all my books, even the historical ones. Poetry was my beginning, but I do not hide from you that I am still involved with it. Passion and romance were the most indisputable elements I always started with.
You were the editor of three newspapers, a magazine, you worked on radio and television. Comparing then with now, how do you see the developments in the field of information;
I experienced everything you mention in their protean, I would say, forms. The publishing of newspapers and my magazine, WHY, I started with cash register letters, I experienced radio in its prehistoric form with zero technical support, and my collaboration with television was when cameras were huge and unwieldy. Today developments run so fast that we cannot keep up with them to catch up and most importantly to feel the sweetness of their then slowness…
A few days before 2024, what do you expect?
May we have our health and no matter how much the winds blow, may we be able to hear the sea!
