| IRENE NOEL-BAKER | Poet Translator of Greek literary works Psychologist |
Translation of Modern Greek Literature
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The True Story, by Andreas Karayan Published by Armida Books, 2022 Translated into English by Irene Noel-Baker In the age of David Hockney, Derek Jarman, Kenneth Anger and Andy Warhol, when bisexuality was at first radical and then trendy, a young man is faced with the ambiguity of sexual roles… we are immersed in cosmopolitan Cyprus, decadent Alexandria, Berlin, London and Athens during the early seventies. These new artefacts by the renowned Cypriot painter are wise and above all FUNNY, quick and sincere, a joy to translate. His delight in words act like successful brushstrokes that are unexpected, deft, (daft), and felicitous, giving us so many new things to see!... |
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The Marches of the Levant, by Miltiades Hatzopoulos Published by Armida Books, 2021 Translated into English by Irene Noel-Baker In the third volume of Miltiades Hatzopoulos’ trilogy, Dimitri returns to the newly ‘independent’ British colony of Cyprus in 1968. Partition has begun, ending the age-old amity with the Turkish Cypriots. The struggle for a union with Greece has faded. Personal wealth and social advancement are key. Politics has turned divisive. ... |
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From Beyond the Sea, by Miltiades Hatzopoulos Published by Armida Books, 2019 Translated into English by Irene Noel-Baker The second volume in Miltiades Hatzopoulos’ trilogy has Dimitri arriving in Paris in 1956, a stranger in a foreign land, bewildered and bemused, but soon swept up in the reality of a country he has so far learned about only through his reading of French medieval literature. A sophisticated French family welcome him into their confusingly shabby upper-class home, where he lodges together with a colourful cast of characters on the sixth floor. ... |
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Stone and Honey, by Christina Zempi Published by Arcadia Books, 2016 Translated into English by Irene Noel-Baker Stone and Honey is a novel full of Greek flavour which invites the reader to discover a powerful love story and one man’s journey towards self-forgiveness. A brilliant travelling companion for those interested in finding out more about the country, this book sits well alongside Patrick Leigh Fermor's book on the Mani, and Victoria Hislop's novels set in Greece. ... |
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Betwixt and Between, by M. B. Hatzopoulos Published as En Merei Hellenizon by Hestia Publications, Athens, May 2009 Translated into English by Irene Noel-Baker Betwixt and Between is the first volume in Hatzopoulos's trilogy, set in Cyprus in the 50s, during the violent period of struggle against British Colonial rule. It recounts the transition of a Greek boy to manhood in a world of divided loyalties. Dimitri's dilemmas are no less relevant today than they were five decades ago, for they concern the ever present questions of unjust oppression and terrorism, of the coexistence of different cultures and creeds and the catalytic potency of love. This nostalgic novel also conjures up three cities, Nicosia, Famagusta, Kyrenia, irreparably defaced by war and human greed. ... |
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Yezoul, by Niki Marangou Published by Hestia Publications, Athens, November 2010 Translated into English by Irene Noel-Baker This novel has been described by its author as a patchwork made up of remnants, or an embroidery from left over threads. It is a woman's work, pieced together from half-remembered and rediscovered scraps of history: the history of Greek Independence from Turkey and the attendant war, exile and loss in the Aegina, Corfu, Athens and Constantinople of the day. The book is sewn together with the threads of a modern narrative which brings in Cairo during the second world war, the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, and contemporary Athens. ... |
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