| IRENE NOEL-BAKER | Poet Translator of Greek literary works Psychologist |
Translation of Modern Greek Literature - Militates Hatzopoulos: The Marches of the Levant
Miltiades Hatzopoulos, The Marches of the Levant (Armida Books, Nicosia, 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.
Dimitri attempts to rediscover the integrity of the island through his family, friends old and new, and uncovering the ancient and medieval past of the island. Compromised and tempted at work, he watches helplessly as a civil war, military coup and invasion blows his world apart. Condemned as a communist, he joins battle as an irregular, and witnesses his country’s descent into the violence and heartbreak that has marked the end of empires from Palestine to Afghanistan.
The Marches of the Levant describes Cyprus accurately as poised on the edge of Europe, yet intrinsically a part of it. It reinstates the country in the minds and hearts of those who may have neglected or forgotten an important part of our collective history.