The Island / L’île / To nisi

Author: Antigone Kefala
Title: The Island / L’île / To nisi
Trilingual novella - English-French-Greek
with an introduction in English by Helen Nickas
Main text: original in English by Antigone Kefala
with parallel translations
by Marie Gaulis (French) and Helen Nickas (Greek)
pp 181 ISBN 0 9586390 5 1
Date of publication 2002
$25.00

This trilingual book by the distinguished poet and prose writer Antigone Kefala celebrates the true spirit of multiculturalism in Australia. Written by the author in English, it was subsequently translated into French by Marie Gaulis and into Greek by Helen Nickas (both translators having done theses on Kefala’s work). Helen Nickas also provides an extensive introduction on the author, her work and the intricacies of translation. The Island is about many things that reflect the human condition – exile, displacement, otherness, first love and its intricacies. But it is language with its complex intercultural workings that is emphasised by this trilingual publication.

Antigone Kefala was born in Romania of Greek parents and has lived in Sydney since 1960. Her poetry publications include Absence: new and selected poems (Hale & Iremonger, 1992, 1998). Her prose works include The Island (Hale & Iremonger, 1984), Alexia: a tale of two cultures (John Ferguson, 1984); bilingual and trilingual versions of Alexia and The Island (Owl, 1995 and 2002) as well as her latest Summer Visit: three novellas (Giramondo 2002).

This publication has been supported by the Australia Council and the Centenary of Federation