With the last part of her trilogy “The Dragon of Prespa III: The Memory of Ice” (published by Kastaniotis) having already been released, to the delight of the reading public, Ioanna Bourazopoulou will be in Patras, specifically at the Pixelbooks bookstore (Kanakari 185 ) on Thursday, April 18 (at 20:30). On the occasion of the event, the award-winning author talks to us regarding her fascination with fantasy literature, regarding the “birth” and creation of her trilogy, regarding today’s dragons, but also regarding her love for escapades on… two wheels.
-When did your imagination begin to demand that you write on paper stories made of it?
I started writing in my teens, initially plays. I loved the theater – I still love it, as a spectator, then I participated in amateur troupes and loved to imagine performances. Shows with inventive plots, wacky characters and strange, surreal events. The same atmosphere prevails in my books. There is always a mystery, paradoxical events and phenomena, quirky researchers trying to interpret them, transformations and twists. I probably never got out of the quintessence of my imaginary theater and I still act out the dialogue in my books to make sure they sound pleasant. I hope I don’t disturb the neighbors too much.
-What fascinates you in fantasy literature?
It’s a joy to build a world from scratch. There is nothing more exciting. I am describing political-social systems in crisis, similar to modern ones, that are disrupted due to some unexpected, unrealistic, phenomenon or event. As if a fantasy comet hits the world of everyday life and throws it out of its orbit. Thus all the joints of society are rearranged trying to stand up to the new condition – the market, politics, religion, perceptions, human relations. In fact, we are talking regarding the same issues that plague us today, but through a dreamier and more charming prism.
-What are the conditions in which you write, both those related to your mood and the environment?
The only condition is that I don’t have anything else to do that day. I hardly write following the office, let’s say, because I work in the mornings. This means I don’t write weekdays, only weekends and holidays. That’s why I’m taking so long to publish. This way I spend more time with each book, I get to know the characters better, I understand the scenes better. I think this is the only condition, the whole day dedicated to writing, to be able to enter the atmosphere of the book and experience the plot. The purpose is not to finish it quickly, I want to enjoy it first of all.
– So, let’s go to your trilogy, your occupation with which counts for more than ten years(!). Why did you choose Prespes, starting from Greece, N. Macedonia to end up in Albania?
Megali Prespa is the ideal setting for a trilogy precisely because it is divided into three. It doesn’t have a dragon of course, but I added this one. It is a beautiful lake that we share with North Macedonia and Albania. When the otherworldly monster appears – the dragon – each bank perceives it differently and interprets it differently. Instead of joining forces to confront him, they compete in outrageous theories and undermine each other. The first volume is the perspective of Greece and I started with Greece precisely because it was more familiar to me. The other two followed, but in fact each volume can be read independently. It has its own heroes, its own mysteries and gives its own solutions. Of course, if one reads all three, then the image of the dragon is completed, because the perspectives are interconnected.
-Each appearance of the much-discussed dragon is associated with an extreme climatic event: rain and mud, absolute drought, ice with sub-zero temperatures. Why did you associate him with the climate?;
Because we are part of an ecosystem that affects us and we affect it. Only in the book does the connection become visible. The residents’ perceptions of the dragon are projected onto the environment, so the south bank is drowned in mud, the east is deserted, and the west is frozen. The explanation given in the book for this tripartite “projection” is too complex to be analyzed in this interview, in fact it borders on allegory, however we are not far from the bold assumptions of science.
-The different perspective of the peoples, which you highlight through your story, what does it demonstrate regarding the way our world works?
That we are products of our environment and carriers of ideologies or prejudices that limit our thinking. It is not easy to get rid of these shackles and face the “other” with clarity, free of attitudes and stereotypes. Truth is a constant search for it. Freedom is a conscious effort to pursue it. They are journeys, not destinations.
-During the writing process, was there something or someone out of the three volumes that was the most difficult for you, and why?
Its long duration made it difficult for me. When I started planning the trilogy I knew I was embarking on a journey that would last ten to twelve years. That the project will grow with me and change with me. That in ten or twelve years I will be a different woman living in a different country, in a different world. I decided to go for it and allow the story to incorporate all the changes of my age and concerns. Fortunately I didn’t have to change the ending, I believe in the friendship of peoples as much as I did when I started writing regarding it.
-Having lived so many years with your heroes, how do you feel now that they are out of your hands? Have you connected more with any of them?
I connected with all of them, positive and negative heroes, because they all carry a piece of my thought, express my own fears and hopes. I’m usually more concerned with the negative heroes because it’s necessary to understand them – the positive ones take no effort to love. Thus they end up stronger sometimes in the narrative, more clearly sculpted and more strongly impressed upon the consciousness. It is not done on purpose, what I seek is to make them believable. Positive heroes are the nicest company, but negative heroes are the biggest challenge.
-Dragons in our time, who would you characterize?
Every unconscious fear and every unacknowledged expectation or desire, which we hardly dare touch or admit. Overt evil is not a dragon, it has other names and is more easily defined. We will immediately stand up to it and condemn it. Political manipulation is based on unmanifested fear, so it is not rationally controlled, has no specific form, and activates reflexive defenses once morest the unknown. It requires effort and a conversation with the opposite bank, to clear the fog of instincts and understand what it is that scares you. Usually behind the fog you will see your own face, bullying you.
-Your machine and you. How would you describe this long-term relationship?
Literary, I would dare say. From the beginning, the motorcycle was associated with departure, escape – from current events, from everyday life, from monotony – because I love long trips, getting lost in Europe. The motorcycle rarely appears in my books, once as long as I can remember, but it is the one that takes me away from everything I am tired of facing, hearing and analyzing. It’s the ultimate escape because the driving experience is intensely physical, you feel the wind whipping at you, you suck in the dust, you get soaked by the rain, you freeze on the snowy mountain tops. A three-day trip by motorbike is more refreshing than three weeks by car. Well, I’m not talking regarding the plane, you just change seats and get out of Barcelona. Is this a trip?
-At the event, Ioanna Bourazopoulou will talk with the poet Dino Siotis.
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