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Gregory: and Other Stories
The prose works of P.I. reveal a serious, multifarious, mature writer who puts his country on the contemporary literary map. - Sylvia Tankel, Short Story International, New York
The work of P.I., the best known Cypriot prose writer, carries a penetrating sense of external anxiety and inner guilt. - Nik Skins & Mike Theodoulou, Guardian, London
A translation of twelve award winning short stories and novellas. Gregory, The Bath, Uniforms, The Suitcase and The Escape have been adapted for the theater by the author and staged in theaters in Cyprus, Greece, England, USA and Germany, whereas all the short stories have been included in prestigious anthologies such as Short Story International, Sudden Fiction and others.
Contents
Vagabond Street | Gregory | Beehives | The Bath | Festival of the Full Moon | Cinyras | Gregorios and Efthymios | Kypriani | Uniforms | The Suitcase | The Escape | The Unseen Aspect
CINYRAS Mighty King and Great High Priest, Cinyras the Paphian! How Sacred Prostitution, deceitful diplomacy, and ruthless exploitation of the people s religiosity and patriotism gave him omnipotence, glory and immortality. Cinyras who, according to Homer, gave Agamemnon the legendary shield, King and High Priest of Paphos, mystic and solicitor of sacred prostitution who - through deceit, duplicitous diplomacy and ruthless exploitation of the people s religiosity and patriotism - became omnipotent in life and in death.
GREGORIOS AND EFTHYMIOS A St. Bartholomew night of massacre carried out in Medieval Cyprus by edict of the Pope and of the Vatican. A satanic intrigue masterminded by the Pope and the Vatican led to a bloodbath and the mutual annihilation of the military Orders of the Knights Templar and the Knights Hospitallers in enslaved Medieval Cyprus. Long before Dan Brown discovered and revealed The Da Vinci Code...
KYPRIANI Slave woman and wet nurse, Kypriani exacts revenge on the Ottoman invaders and occupiers of her homeland, Venetian Cyprus of the Middle Ages, by spreading leprosy to newborns during breastfeeding.
GREGORY The friendship, which develops between a group of EOKA guerrilla fighters and their British hostage Gregory, does not prevent them from executing him when the order arrives. Yet ignoring the order to place his body on public display, as an example, they bury their friend and victim.
The short story has been translated and published in dozens of languages , including Braille.
VAGABOND STREET Vagabond Street, a road and sanctuary inhabited only by people incurably damaged by war.
THE UNIFORMS Can uniforms worn as camouflage, at a moment of deadly peril, by two young people from enemy camps - a young Turkish woman and a Greek Cypriot soldier magically transform them into siblings, or mother and son? The answer given in the story is a poignant yes .
THE UNSEEN ASPECT An old refugee from Lapithos, Cyprus, and his granddaughter, live on a wasteland, a place of skulls, locked in an epic and tragic struggle with nature, in a defeat and a victory reminiscent of Hemingway s classic novel The Old Man and the Sea. The short story has been translated into dozens of languages including Chinese.
The stories of P.I., at a striking, harsh crossroads, mingle art with life. - Tatiana Gritsi-Milliex, writer and critic
The work of P.I., the best known Cypriot prose writer, carries a penetrating sense of external anxiety and inner guilt. - Nik Skins & Mike Theodoulou, Guardian, London
A translation of twelve award winning short stories and novellas. Gregory, The Bath, Uniforms, The Suitcase and The Escape have been adapted for the theater by the author and staged in theaters in Cyprus, Greece, England, USA and Germany, whereas all the short stories have been included in prestigious anthologies such as Short Story International, Sudden Fiction and others.
Contents
Vagabond Street | Gregory | Beehives | The Bath | Festival of the Full Moon | Cinyras | Gregorios and Efthymios | Kypriani | Uniforms | The Suitcase | The Escape | The Unseen Aspect
CINYRAS Mighty King and Great High Priest, Cinyras the Paphian! How Sacred Prostitution, deceitful diplomacy, and ruthless exploitation of the people s religiosity and patriotism gave him omnipotence, glory and immortality. Cinyras who, according to Homer, gave Agamemnon the legendary shield, King and High Priest of Paphos, mystic and solicitor of sacred prostitution who - through deceit, duplicitous diplomacy and ruthless exploitation of the people s religiosity and patriotism - became omnipotent in life and in death.
GREGORIOS AND EFTHYMIOS A St. Bartholomew night of massacre carried out in Medieval Cyprus by edict of the Pope and of the Vatican. A satanic intrigue masterminded by the Pope and the Vatican led to a bloodbath and the mutual annihilation of the military Orders of the Knights Templar and the Knights Hospitallers in enslaved Medieval Cyprus. Long before Dan Brown discovered and revealed The Da Vinci Code...
KYPRIANI Slave woman and wet nurse, Kypriani exacts revenge on the Ottoman invaders and occupiers of her homeland, Venetian Cyprus of the Middle Ages, by spreading leprosy to newborns during breastfeeding.
GREGORY The friendship, which develops between a group of EOKA guerrilla fighters and their British hostage Gregory, does not prevent them from executing him when the order arrives. Yet ignoring the order to place his body on public display, as an example, they bury their friend and victim.
The short story has been translated and published in dozens of languages , including Braille.
VAGABOND STREET Vagabond Street, a road and sanctuary inhabited only by people incurably damaged by war.
THE UNIFORMS Can uniforms worn as camouflage, at a moment of deadly peril, by two young people from enemy camps - a young Turkish woman and a Greek Cypriot soldier magically transform them into siblings, or mother and son? The answer given in the story is a poignant yes .
THE UNSEEN ASPECT An old refugee from Lapithos, Cyprus, and his granddaughter, live on a wasteland, a place of skulls, locked in an epic and tragic struggle with nature, in a defeat and a victory reminiscent of Hemingway s classic novel The Old Man and the Sea. The short story has been translated into dozens of languages including Chinese.
The stories of P.I., at a striking, harsh crossroads, mingle art with life. - Tatiana Gritsi-Milliex, writer and critic
233 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2009
269 people want to read
About the author
Panos Ioannides
23 books7 followersPanos Ioannides (Πάνος Ιωαννίδης) was born in Famagusta, Cyprus, in 1935. He studied Mass Communications and Sociology in the USA and Canada. He served as Director of Radio and Television Programmes at the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation. He has been writing literature, mostly prose and theatre, since 1955. Works of his have been translated and published in their entirety or in parts in French, German, English, Russian, Romanian, Chinese, Hungarian, Polish, Serbo-Croat, Turkish, Persian, Bulgarian, Swedish, and other languages. His plays Gregory, Peter the First, The Suitcase, and Ventriloquists have been staged in Greece, England, USA and Germany. He served as Chairman of the Cyprus Theatre Organization (ThOK) Repertory Committee, and as President of the Cyprus PEN Centre. He lives in Nicosia, Cyprus.
PUBLISHED WORKS
PROSE
IN ETHERIAL CYPRUS, short stories, G.Fexis Publications, Athens, 1964
CYPRUS EPICS, short stories, P.K.I. Publications, Cyprus, 1968
KRONAKA, VOLUMES I & II, novellas and short stories, I.M. Publications, Cyprus 1970 and 1972
CENSUS, novel, I.M. Publications, Cyprus, 1973
Second edition, Ledra Publications, Athens, 1993
THE UNSEEN ASPECT, novellas and short stories, Kinyras Publications, Cyprus, 1979
THREE PARABLES BY NICOLAOS KEYS, journalist, novellas, Kinyras Publications, Cyprus, 1989
THE UNBEARABLE PATRIOTISM OF P.F.K., novel, Kinyras Publications, Cyprus, 1989
Second Edition, Kastaniotis Publications, Athens 1990
SAILING, VOLUMES I & II, novellas and short stories, Alassia Publications, Cyprus 1992
DEVAS, novel, Armida Publications, Cyprus 2006
AMERICA '62, novel, Armida Publications, Cyprus December 2007
PLAYS
PYGMALION AND GALATIA, Cyprus 1973
YOU, WHO DIED FOR THE LIGHT, Cyprus 1962
Revised edition, Armida Publications, Cyprus 2004
THREE PLAYS (The Bath, Ventriloquists, Gregory), Kinyras Publications, Cyprus 1973
ONESILUS, Proodos Publications, Cyprus 1981
THREE ONE-ACT PLAYS (The Suitcase, Dry Martini, Cousins), P.K.I. Publications, Cyprus 1984
PETER THE FIRST, P.K.I. Publications, Cyprus 1984
FOTINOS, Armida Publications, Cyprus 2000
MEMORIAL SERVICE, SIMAE Publications, Cyprus 2002
LEONTIOS AND SMYRNA, Armida Publications, Cyprus 2005-09-26
POETRY
SONG OF SHIGERU AND OTHER POEMS, Cyprus 1966
IN PARENTHESIS, Armida Publications, Cyprus 2000
ANTHOLOGIES
CYPRUS HIGHLIGHTS, with Leonidas Malenis, Cyprus 1963
ANTHOLOGY OF CYPRIOT SHORT-STORIES, with Andreas Christofides, I.M. Publications, Cyprus 1969
ANTHOLOGY OF THE EOKA STRUGGLE, I.M. Publications, Cyprus 1973
FACE OF AN ISLAND, 24 short stories from Cyprus in English, Armida Publications, Cyprus 1997
FACE OF AN ISLAND, 25 Cypriot poets translated in English, Armida Publications, Cyprus, 2000
TV AND CINEMA SCENARIOS
GREGORY: Directed by Evis Gavrielides, the televised version was shown by the CyBCTV, TV
Greece and other European TV Stations, as well as by the National TV Network of Australia.
ASINOU: A documentary on the Chapel of Asinou, directed by Panos Ioannides. This church belongs
to a group of nine Troodos Mountain Churches included in the World Heritage Monuments selected
by UNESCO. The documentary was shown in Cyprus, Greece and other countries.
THE TILLYRIA BOMBINGS: Documentary filmed by the writer in Tillyria district, Paphos, during the
bombing of this district of Cyprus by the Turkish air force in 1964.
KYRIAKOS MATSIS: Documentary on the life of the hero of the Cyprus liberation struggle, Kyriakos
Matsis.
PETER THE FIRST: Scenario for the historical TV series of eleven, forty-five minute episodes. The
series was shown in Cyprus and by the CyBC Satellite TV.
TROUBLED YEARS: Scenario for a TV series of the same name, in collaboration with Hera Genagritou.
It was shown on MEGA TV, Cyprus.
TRANSLATED WORKS
Works of Panos Ioannides have been translated and published in their entirety or in parts, in various
languages.
POEMS: French translation of Song for Shigeru and other poems
PUBLISHED WORKS
PROSE
IN ETHERIAL CYPRUS, short stories, G.Fexis Publications, Athens, 1964
CYPRUS EPICS, short stories, P.K.I. Publications, Cyprus, 1968
KRONAKA, VOLUMES I & II, novellas and short stories, I.M. Publications, Cyprus 1970 and 1972
CENSUS, novel, I.M. Publications, Cyprus, 1973
Second edition, Ledra Publications, Athens, 1993
THE UNSEEN ASPECT, novellas and short stories, Kinyras Publications, Cyprus, 1979
THREE PARABLES BY NICOLAOS KEYS, journalist, novellas, Kinyras Publications, Cyprus, 1989
THE UNBEARABLE PATRIOTISM OF P.F.K., novel, Kinyras Publications, Cyprus, 1989
Second Edition, Kastaniotis Publications, Athens 1990
SAILING, VOLUMES I & II, novellas and short stories, Alassia Publications, Cyprus 1992
DEVAS, novel, Armida Publications, Cyprus 2006
AMERICA '62, novel, Armida Publications, Cyprus December 2007
PLAYS
PYGMALION AND GALATIA, Cyprus 1973
YOU, WHO DIED FOR THE LIGHT, Cyprus 1962
Revised edition, Armida Publications, Cyprus 2004
THREE PLAYS (The Bath, Ventriloquists, Gregory), Kinyras Publications, Cyprus 1973
ONESILUS, Proodos Publications, Cyprus 1981
THREE ONE-ACT PLAYS (The Suitcase, Dry Martini, Cousins), P.K.I. Publications, Cyprus 1984
PETER THE FIRST, P.K.I. Publications, Cyprus 1984
FOTINOS, Armida Publications, Cyprus 2000
MEMORIAL SERVICE, SIMAE Publications, Cyprus 2002
LEONTIOS AND SMYRNA, Armida Publications, Cyprus 2005-09-26
POETRY
SONG OF SHIGERU AND OTHER POEMS, Cyprus 1966
IN PARENTHESIS, Armida Publications, Cyprus 2000
ANTHOLOGIES
CYPRUS HIGHLIGHTS, with Leonidas Malenis, Cyprus 1963
ANTHOLOGY OF CYPRIOT SHORT-STORIES, with Andreas Christofides, I.M. Publications, Cyprus 1969
ANTHOLOGY OF THE EOKA STRUGGLE, I.M. Publications, Cyprus 1973
FACE OF AN ISLAND, 24 short stories from Cyprus in English, Armida Publications, Cyprus 1997
FACE OF AN ISLAND, 25 Cypriot poets translated in English, Armida Publications, Cyprus, 2000
TV AND CINEMA SCENARIOS
GREGORY: Directed by Evis Gavrielides, the televised version was shown by the CyBCTV, TV
Greece and other European TV Stations, as well as by the National TV Network of Australia.
ASINOU: A documentary on the Chapel of Asinou, directed by Panos Ioannides. This church belongs
to a group of nine Troodos Mountain Churches included in the World Heritage Monuments selected
by UNESCO. The documentary was shown in Cyprus, Greece and other countries.
THE TILLYRIA BOMBINGS: Documentary filmed by the writer in Tillyria district, Paphos, during the
bombing of this district of Cyprus by the Turkish air force in 1964.
KYRIAKOS MATSIS: Documentary on the life of the hero of the Cyprus liberation struggle, Kyriakos
Matsis.
PETER THE FIRST: Scenario for the historical TV series of eleven, forty-five minute episodes. The
series was shown in Cyprus and by the CyBC Satellite TV.
TROUBLED YEARS: Scenario for a TV series of the same name, in collaboration with Hera Genagritou.
It was shown on MEGA TV, Cyprus.
TRANSLATED WORKS
Works of Panos Ioannides have been translated and published in their entirety or in parts, in various
languages.
POEMS: French translation of Song for Shigeru and other poems
Ratings & Reviews
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
June 14, 2023
To his left, blood-red with azure reflections, the sea; in the distance, half sunk in the water, the sun; to his right and behind him, a green strip of land, perfectly geometrical, a symmetrical carpet spread in an inhospitable, bone-dry valley, scattered with shells and rocks, barren for a thousand years or more, since the time of the great drought which filled Cyprus with reptiles and monasteries.
É através de 12 contos que PI conta a história sangrenta da pequena ilha do mediterrâneo, desde os tempos de Homero até 1974.
Wherever you dig, two inches below the ground, you will find them: bones and stones and reptiles.
É sempre bom lembrar que a ilha de Chipre está, desde a invasão da Turquia, há quase 50 anos, dividida entre duas comunidades - a cipriota grega, no sul, e a cipriota turca, a norte.
As 12 histórias exploram ideias de confiança e desconfiança, lealdade e traição, aparência e realidade, mas acima de tudo uma ideia de pertença, de identidade e auto preservação.
The right thing is to save your skin. That’s only logical. It’s either your skin or his.
Os contos que mais gostei foram:
Gregory
Festival of the Full Moon
Kypriani
The Suitcase
The Unseen Aspect
Uma viagem literária a Chipre que foi bastante interessante.
50/198 – Chipre
É através de 12 contos que PI conta a história sangrenta da pequena ilha do mediterrâneo, desde os tempos de Homero até 1974.
Wherever you dig, two inches below the ground, you will find them: bones and stones and reptiles.
É sempre bom lembrar que a ilha de Chipre está, desde a invasão da Turquia, há quase 50 anos, dividida entre duas comunidades - a cipriota grega, no sul, e a cipriota turca, a norte.
As 12 histórias exploram ideias de confiança e desconfiança, lealdade e traição, aparência e realidade, mas acima de tudo uma ideia de pertença, de identidade e auto preservação.
The right thing is to save your skin. That’s only logical. It’s either your skin or his.
Os contos que mais gostei foram:
Gregory
Festival of the Full Moon
Kypriani
The Suitcase
The Unseen Aspect
Uma viagem literária a Chipre que foi bastante interessante.
50/198 – Chipre
February 7, 2012
You could buy a rough guide and you could look up the history of the island on wikipedia. Gregory and other stories does all that and many more. It's a journey through time and in all honesty, done in a masterful way. Ioannides' short stories not only manage to inform you about the island's turbulent history, the characters he creates are amazingly real and human and more often than not, controversial. My favorite story is about the ancient king Cinyras, the first religious/political leader of the island, and if I am not mistaken, Cinyras mirrors Archibishop Makarios III, a modern religious/political figure of the island. Ioannides' language is deceptively simple but packed with hidden meanings and rich imagery. A true master of prose...
December 21, 2018
“Gregory and other stories” er en samling stærke, eksistentialistiske noveller i historiske klædedragter fra en af Cyperns mest anerkendte forfattere, Panos Ioannides.
Læs boganmeldelsen på K’s bognoter: https://bognoter.dk/2018/12/21/panos-...
Læs boganmeldelsen på K’s bognoter: https://bognoter.dk/2018/12/21/panos-...
July 17, 2024
2.5/5
February 9, 2012
The reader will enjoy the honesty of the author and the explicit details about Cyprus' history and culture. Ioannides' short stories are a real pleasure to read and discuss a vast quantity of topics: individual fates, mysterious intellectual circles, a fictional political scene of the past which reflects the problems Cyprus encountered... this collection is a colorful puzzle of realities, generated by the diversity of life.
The authors' poetic and rich language depicts this Mediterranean island in a very unique way and creates a new and astonishing picture of Cyprus!
Understandably so Panos Ioannides has been honored with a great number of literary awards...
The authors' poetic and rich language depicts this Mediterranean island in a very unique way and creates a new and astonishing picture of Cyprus!
Understandably so Panos Ioannides has been honored with a great number of literary awards...
July 11, 2012
Received from Goodreads Giveaway! So glad I got this book, it was so neat and I enjoyed this book of short stories. I found almost every story in this book amazing. I love anthologies, mythology and folklore. This is one of those books I would keep in my collections just so that I can go back an re-read some of the stories.
Read
February 27, 2012I have used one of these stories in my TESL classes. They are nice to use in teaching basic literary structure.
October 30, 2021
I read this book as part of my quest to read a book written by an author from every country in the world. The author of this book is from the Republic of Cyprus, an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.
I usually do some research on the author's country before/while I am reading the book. In this case, it was extremely helpful - there are 12 short stories and almost all of them take place as a result of the war between the Turks and the Greek Cypriots.
The island was originally settled by the Greeks. In 1914, it was annexed by the UK. By 1960, Greek Cypriots made up 77% of the population and Turkish Cypriots made up 18% of the population. The Greek Cypriot population pursued enosis - which is a movement by Greeks who live outside of Greece, for incorporation of their regions into the Greek state. The Turks meanwhile, pursued Taksim, the partitioning of the island between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots.
In 1974, a coup d'état was staged by the Greek Cypriots. This led to the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, which led to the capture of the present-day territory of Northern Cyprus. 180,000 Greek Cypriots were evicted from their homes in the north. At the same time, 50,000 Turkish Cypriots were displaced to the north and settled in the properties of the displaced Greek Cypriots.
The stories in this book show the pain and suffering of the Greek Cypriots as they were forced to leave their homelands and lose everything they had owned. Other stories show the personal relationships and conflict between the Turk soldiers of the North and the Greek Citizens. They are heart-wrenching stories that demonstrate the pain and inhumanity of war.
I do not like to read short stories - they end just as I am feeling comfortable with the characters and the setting. These stories are very powerful though - I read many of them twice to really understand and sympathize with the characters.
I usually do some research on the author's country before/while I am reading the book. In this case, it was extremely helpful - there are 12 short stories and almost all of them take place as a result of the war between the Turks and the Greek Cypriots.
The island was originally settled by the Greeks. In 1914, it was annexed by the UK. By 1960, Greek Cypriots made up 77% of the population and Turkish Cypriots made up 18% of the population. The Greek Cypriot population pursued enosis - which is a movement by Greeks who live outside of Greece, for incorporation of their regions into the Greek state. The Turks meanwhile, pursued Taksim, the partitioning of the island between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots.
In 1974, a coup d'état was staged by the Greek Cypriots. This led to the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, which led to the capture of the present-day territory of Northern Cyprus. 180,000 Greek Cypriots were evicted from their homes in the north. At the same time, 50,000 Turkish Cypriots were displaced to the north and settled in the properties of the displaced Greek Cypriots.
The stories in this book show the pain and suffering of the Greek Cypriots as they were forced to leave their homelands and lose everything they had owned. Other stories show the personal relationships and conflict between the Turk soldiers of the North and the Greek Citizens. They are heart-wrenching stories that demonstrate the pain and inhumanity of war.
I do not like to read short stories - they end just as I am feeling comfortable with the characters and the setting. These stories are very powerful though - I read many of them twice to really understand and sympathize with the characters.
December 6, 2021
De verhalen die handelen over de hedendaagse mensen zijn goed, interessant, intrigerend, maar ze contrasteren veel te sterk met de hervertellingen van mythologische gebeurtenissen en verhalen rond de Tempeliers, wat maakt dat deze bundel zeer ongelijk van toon en inhoud is.
Ik beschouw het als een kennismaking met het werk van deze auteur... en ook niet meer dan dat.
Ik beschouw het als een kennismaking met het werk van deze auteur... en ook niet meer dan dat.
December 20, 2019
Reading World #40 - Cyprus
December 10, 2021
only read gregory
March 17, 2015
Shortlisted for the 2011 Rubery Book Award
A beautifully presented collection of short stories by an avant-garde writer from Cyprus. He writes in deceptively simple prose, which penetrates beyond the obvious to inner truths that leave the reader with much to think about. The title story, “Gregory” is particularly powerful, told from the point of view of a group of young soldiers who have been ordered to take part in a firing squad.
A beautifully presented collection of short stories by an avant-garde writer from Cyprus. He writes in deceptively simple prose, which penetrates beyond the obvious to inner truths that leave the reader with much to think about. The title story, “Gregory” is particularly powerful, told from the point of view of a group of young soldiers who have been ordered to take part in a firing squad.
December 29, 2016
Reading the world in books: Cyprus.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews