Interview of the author of our first fairy tale “A line and a dot and a miracle on the spot!” Evangelia Gkioni in the blog “vivliomania – vibliolatreia”
We would like to thank Ms. Vasiliki Diamanti for the interview and vivliomania – vibliolatreia Βιβλιομανία-Βιβλιολατρεία for hosting us, and we wish them a nice summer!
Read the interview at the link below and get the story with our summer offer at our Publishing House e-shop:
Source: https://vivliomania-vivliolatreia.blogspot.com
Discussing with Evangelia Gioni
Who is your favorite author?
Of course, I can’t “pick” a favorite tragic poet, but of the works of the three great tragedians, I particularly love Aeschylus’ Oresteia trilogy and Sophocles’ Oedipus Tyrannus.
What is the first book you read?
I will tell you the first book I picked myself. It was “A different Journey” by Katerina Scaliora. I still remember that visit to the neighborhood bookstore. I must have been 7 or 8 years old. I read a lot as a child with favorite authors being Zorz Sari and Alkie Zei.
What prompted you to start writing?
Through the activities of the theatrical group of The Servers’ Society, which I am in charge of, we have visited over the years many, many places of care and hospitality for children and people with special skills in general to perform our plays, always free of any charge of course. There I saw the great need people have to believe in the potential of every human being to overcome difficulties and be well, something our group believes in and serves. And then, of course, that every child can have a book in their hands that deals with the theme of acceptance and self-love. This was the driving force that made me want to write and even start with this particular book. It is not a children’s book by accident and certainly not a “fairy tale” at all.
How would you describe your book “A line and a dot and a miracle on the spot”?
It is a story of seek and revelation. It is the quest of every human being until it is revealed to them that each and every person and life itself is a miracle. But beyond that, and I say this in every chance I get, this book for me clearly illustrates the magic that the group function creates. It is the result of pure teamwork, because a text alone is not enough for a children’s book. Without the illustrations by Valia Skalomenou and the aesthetics of Marianna Smyrniotou, who edited the whole set-up, it could not have been done. Nor, of course, without the encouragement and especially the trust of the Heads of Megas Seirios Publications. Not to mention many more who contributed in their own way. So, if I put it all together it is “the magical story of the quest and revelation of the miracle through the group”
How did you come up with the idea of writing this particular book?
As I said before, through the work of The Servers’ Society theatrical group we have gained a huge amount of contact and experience from very sensitive places and people. Magical things happen in the places we visit, children closed in themselves, who don’t talk to anyone, come on stage and play with us, embrace us and don’t want us to leave. Regardless of the difficulties they face, they express themselves when we are there and for days after the performance, in ways that leave their caregivers speechless. And all for a very simple reason. Because we don’t see in them the problem but the miracle. I have many, many similar experiences in my profession as a psychotherapist in drug addiction rehabilitation. This is what we wanted to capture on paper. There is a huge need for children and adults to love themselves and believe in their own potential.
Our little hero is looking for something after having a dream. Is it easy or difficult to find the answers we are looking for?
Easy, I think, as long as we want to. The issue for me is not the difficulties, because difficulties are a given. The issue is whether we want to search and work with ourselves to find what we are looking for and thus overcome the difficulties. The little Miracle of our story wanted to find the answer and he found it. He did not give up despite the difficulties; he did not give up. And finally, if you observe it, you will see that from within him came the answer, from within himself emerged what he was looking for.
Our little hero “wants to be” but no one can understand him. What do you think is the reason for this?
People get lost in the rhythms and difficulties of everyday life, in their ego and their individuality. In our fairy tale, everyone tries to understand the Little Miracle but they cannot get to the essence of what he is looking for, because everyone sees it from a more limited perspective. It makes sense, of course, but that’s exactly why there is a Wise Man who sees things in a broader and more global way, which is why he can truly understand our hero and show him how to find the answers he is looking for. It is very interesting that in our performances, all the children watch with great interest and actively participate in the play and the final revelation. All the impressions we have received from parents, from the children themselves and from book readings organized by educators and psychologists in child care institutions to which Megas Seirios Publications donated the book, are vivid and full of enthusiasm. I remember that the children at the House of the Smile of the Child in Kavala said to their educator, when she finished reading, ‘We are already miracles with a big smile, you know!’ This is the most important thing for me!
What would you like to say to your readers?
I will borrow a quatrain by the poet and philosopher Dimitris Kakalidis: “When planets to your courtyard come asking of suns the source, tell them it is your very soul, soul of infinite souls, of fires a source”. This is every human being. So let us see the essence of each one, the essence in us and around us beyond appearances, forms and separateness. This gives us great strength and we need it especially in the difficult times we live in.
Would you like to tell us a few words about your next writing project?
Opportunity to confess that it is…unknown yet! I have a lot of ideas, but I’m also on a quest like the hero of the book. I’m thinking about something for my next children’s book, but maybe I will try a synthesis of essay and experiential writing through my experience in psychotherapy in rehab.
Thank you so much for givimibg this interview I wish you every success and well done!!!
Thank you very much too! I wish you well with health and happiness!
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A psychologist by profession, with great clinical experience in the field of psychotherapy, and by nature an admirer of the synthetic art of theatre through her amateur journeys in it, Evangelia Gkioni makes her debut as a writer with the children’s story “A Line and a Dot and a Miracle on the Spot!”.
Of course, the book was preceded by its theatrical adaptation and the performing of the respective play by the theatrical group that she organises, coordinates and directs (and also plays in it from time to time, depending on the needs). A theatrical group of twenty people, with a long history in the field of children’s theatre, which performs exclusively selflessly in all kinds of facilities where they take in and take care of children. The position of the writer and of the group is the certainty that impasses do not exist and that every problem can be overcome. Why? Very simply, because inside us exists the miracle!
As this note requests in itself to be laconic, we will not, for the time being, cite her talks and presentations at academic, scientific and literary conferences, seminars, cultural and other events in Greece and abroad.
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The popular and beloved of the young (and old!!!) Miracles TV channel Nickelodeon, hosts our fairy tale “A line and a dot and a miracle on the spot!” with a beautiful commercial!
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