iris literary agency

To whom Corfu belongs

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The first of the six texts in this collection is about Corfu, the town of the midway point, the metaphorical town on the borders of childhood, the borders between the gardens and the old open-air summer cinemas. The theme of the second story is the funeral fragrance of spring, the transference of the Burial [of Christ] to the scenes of the inner life. The third speaks of the compulsion of Erotic Devotion, which comes to a strange conclusion, a swan-song ending in parody. The fourth broaches the historical materialism of writing, its magical link to the History of the human body. The fifth explores the function of the healing recollection in Photography, queen of the artes moriendi, which suddenly seems to be proving its credentials in relation to the other blind images of the modern age. The last story shines a light on the embrace of beauty and death, post-modern aesthetics and the macabre, fashion and vampirism. All six texts can be read as developments of the same theme, which is the unattainable separation, the lack of the dimension of grief. All six start off as essays and end as equal ‘fantasias’ (in the musical sense). All six speak precisely, and at the same time remain faithful to the spirit of satire.

A metaphysical short-circuit […] The six essays in this collection bring together the discerning eye of the creator, a vigorous narrative gift, and the theoretical capacity to assimilate the unseen and immaterial aspects of life. […] [He is] a deadly marksman of life’s vanities.’ Dinos Siotis, To Vima, 8-10-2000. ‘It is superfluous, I think, for me to say in conclusion that the dynamic released by WhoCorfu Belongs to is perfectly in keeping with Aranitsis’ goal as a writer, locating his narrative universe on a course of perpetual oscillation and suspense, where everything is a reflection of a reflection, in a landscape of unceasing (and infinitely stimulating) replication.’ Vangelis Hadzivasiliou, Entefktirio, No. 51. ‘Aranitsis is not simply the most interesting critic in Greece today, but also a critic who, more than anyone else, investigates the meaning of criticism as an act of creating forms.’ Vrasidas Karalis, Ithaca, No. 7.

Published in Non Fiction
Aranitsis Evgenios

Evgenios Aranitsis, poet, novelist and essayist, was born in Corfu in 1955. In 1986, in collaboration with Odysseas Elytis, he published the lyrical album The Room with the Pictures. His collection To whom Corfu Belongs (1999) was awarded the State Literary Prize for the essay genre. Since 1978 he has been a columnist for Eleftherotypia. Since the early 90’s he has been working on a long and complex composition entitled Order and Anarchy, parts of which have appeared in literary journals. In 2007, the literary review Porfyras published a special issue on his work. In the same year, his novel Details on the End of the World (1993) came out in French by Flammarion. Other works of his include: Africa (1988); Poems & Acts (1990); Stories liked by Some People I know (1995); Physics (1995); The Sea (1998); Orphan Drugs (1999); Ips typographus: Elytis for Children and Lovers (2000) and Summer on the Hard Disc (2002).

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