A celebration of Antigone Kefala (1931–2022): Fiction and Poetry
Schedule
Sun, 17 Aug, 2025 at 04:30 am
UTC+10:00Location
Gleebooks | Pyrmont, NS
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Join us for a celebration of the work of the late Antigone Kefala, one of Australia’s most important writers in poetry, fiction and the journal form.The event marks this year’s publication of the two commemorative volumes by Giramondo, Antigone Kefala’s collected Poetry and Fiction. It will include presentations by Ivor Indyk, Mireille Juchau, Brigitta Olubas, Lauren Aimee Curtis, Anna Couani, Vrasidas Karalis, Alexander Wells and Nikos Papastergiadis.
Born in Romania, displaced in the aftermath of war to Greece then New Zealand, Kefala migrated to Australia in the late 1950s, where she began in earnest her prolific yet long under-recognised literary career. In 2022, Kefala was honoured with the Patrick White Literary Award.
As Stavros Messinis writes, ‘Antigone Kefala is no longer a footnote in Australian literary history. She is a central figure – an artist who shaped a language of exile, of resilience, of grace.’
We hope you will join us to honour her vision and her legacy.
This event is free, but please register via gleebooks.com.au.
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ABOUT ANTIGONE KEFALA
Antigone Kefala (1931–2022) published three works of fiction, The First Journey, The Island and Alexia, and five poetry collections, The Alien, Thirsty Weather, European Notebook, Absence: New and Selected Poems, and Fragments, which won the 2017 Judith Wright Calanthe Award and was shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Award for Poetry. Her journals were published as Sydney Journals and Late Journals. Two complete collections of her poetry and fiction were released by Giramondo in April 2025.
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‘Reading her work, one is put in mind of Sappho, Emily Dickinson, Anna Akhmatova, and Elizabeth Bishop. Like her sisters in the art of crystalline complexity, Kefala persevered through years of isolation, obscurity, and critical neglect.’ – James Provencher, ArtFuse
‘[Kefala] has been writing extraordinary poetry and prose for over half a century and though immensely admired and respected, is far too little known and celebrated in Australia… It would be difficult to overstate the significance of her life and work in the culture of this nation.’ – Elizabeth McMahon
‘In her spare, bristling poems and candid journals, and across her non-fictional prose and fiction, Kefala’s restive work hinges on precision and vision.’ – Felicity Plunkett, Australian Book Review
‘[Kefala’s] peculiar vision is both austere and lyrical, elegantly fluent in the secret ways of the self.’ – Isabella Gullifer-Laurie, The Saturday Paper
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Where is it happening?
Gleebooks, 181A Glebe Point Rd, Glebe NSW 2037, Australia, PyrmontEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
