Theodor Kallifatides and Monika Zgustova

Theodor Kallifatides fled his homeland Greece, then under the military dictatorship of the Junta. In Sweden, he found freedom of speech but also the strangeness of being divided between the memories of his past and a dogged search for identity in a foreign country. His work reflects a life marked by the experience of war and the loneliness of exile in a constant toing and froing between the longing for rootedness and the desire to leave, where words and memory come together to create works that are an invitation to ponder the phenomenon of emigration by means of literature.

In this conversation and coinciding with the publication of Pagesos i senyors (Peasants and Masters), L’arada i l’espasa (The Plough and the Sword), and Una pau cruel (A Cruel Peace – Galaxia Gutenberg, 2024), Kallifatides will explore the main themes of his work with Monika Zgustova who, besides being an authority on his work, also writes about memory, exile, and conflicts of identity in her novels.

This event is held in collaboration with the Albert Camus Mediterranean Meetings and Awards which are organised in Menorca every year with the aim of upholding the memory of Camus and drawing attention to the relevance of his legacy today.