Victoria Hislop at the British Ambassador’s Residence
On the occasion of the launch of Victoria Hislop’s latest book The Last Dance.
Victoria Hislop joined novelists, artists and art-lovers, literary critics and journalists for a reception hosted by the British Ambassador on the occasion of the launch of Victoria’s latest book The Last Dance.
In his short address the British Ambassador John Kittmer welcomed Victoria to the Residence and congratulated her warmly on the recent publication of the Greek translation of her latest book, ‘The Last Dance and Other Short Stories’. With ‘The Island’ (2006), the book that won her a place in Greek hearts and on the Greek literary scene, Victoria captivated the imagination of millions of readers in Greece and all over the world.
Victoria Hislop, who spoke in Greek, said that she felt extremely lucky that Greece had been such an inspiration for her writing. She expressed her optimism about the future of the country and noted that all of Greece’s strong points, such as the culture, the history, the natural beauty, the light, the people, would survive the crisis. The current crisis, she added, was an opportunity for significant changes and things for Greece could be better when the less attractive elements were dealt with.
Literature is GREAT
From poets and playwrights to novelists, Britain is famous for its literary talent. The works of George Orwell, C.S. Lewis and Tolkien arguably have more influence today than when they were first published. 1984, The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings have also been turned into movies as has that other icon of British fiction: Harry Potter. So much of the world’s greatest literature has come from Britain, from the pens of Chaucer to J.K Rowling.
Note for editors
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Photos available on Flickr
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Victoria Hislop read English at Oxford, and worked in publishing, PR and as a journalist before becoming a novelist. She is married with two children. Her first novel, The Island, held the Number One slot in the Sunday Times paperback chart for eight consecutive weeks and has sold over two million copies worldwide. Victoria was the Newcomer of the Year at the British Book Awards 2007, and her second novel, The Return, was also a Sunday Times Number One bestseller. The Thread was a hardback and paperback Sunday Times bestseller and was shortlisted for a British Book Award. Her first collection of short stories, The Last Dance,was published by Headline in 2012 and was translated by Fotini Pipi and published by Dioptra in April. It has been widely acclaimed. Victoria’s books have been translated into more than 30 languages and have been bestsellers in France, Greece, Israel and Norway. Victoria is now an ambassador for Lepra.