Saturday 27 January 2024 17:30
In January, the Children’s Reading Club for young booklovers aged 9 to 12 continues its meetings, facilitated by author Angeliki Darlasi. Angeliki Darlasi is a writer of prose and theatrical plays, while she has also engaged with television and cinema. Among her awarded works are: The Boy in the Royal Box, Badboy, When We Hid an Angel, and Dream Guardians.
The book
During summer holidays, Fionn visits his father’s home island for the first time, and gets to meet his grandfather, also for the first time. Fionn is fond of him, but he also realizes that his grandfather is hiding a secret. As does the island itself, something Fionn senses from the very first moment he sets foot on the island. Fionn will attempt to find out more, so he will discover that the time has come for the old Storm Keeper to retire and the new one to be elected. And this is no simple task, given that every Keeper is called upon to keep the island’s magic safe from its enemies. Only this time, it seems that a dark force has been awakened, threatening to rekindle a primordial war. Will the succession of the Storm Keeper take place as planned? Will the island and its magic be put in grave danger? And how does this all have to do with Fionn? If you enjoy stories inspired by local legends, if you like tales about wildlife or about other countries, as well as adventures with loads of imagination, then read the book and join us to talk about the charm of legends and traditions, about the magical power of nature, and about family ties and the courage we don’t even imagine we possess.
The author Catherine Doyle grew up beside the Atlantic Ocean. She holds a BA in psychology and an MA in book editing and publishing. As a child, she loved Irish myths and dreamed of someday writing her own stories. The books of The Storm Keeper trilogy are set on Arranmore Island off the west coast of Ireland, the writer’s real-life ancestral home, and are inspired by the stories of her grandparents and the legends of her homeland. Doyle currently lives in Galway, but spends a lot of her time in London and the United States.
The facilitator
A writer of literature for children and young adults, playwright and teacher of creative writing and theater.
Works and books of hers have been translated into English, Turkish, Korean, Spanish, and French. Her books have been adapted for theater (most recently, The Boy in the Royal Box, by the National Theater of Greece, 2021-2022) and puppetry performances, while some are in the pre-production stage to be adapted into films (on screenplays by the author herself), in Greece and abroad.
She has participated as co-author in productions of the State Theaters of Karlsruhe and Uppsala and the National Theater of Luxembourg (2021 & 2022), and the Union des Théâtres del'Europe (2018). Several plays of hers have been staged in Athens: Lighthouse–SNFCC, Athens Concert Hall, Art Theatre Readers’ Theatre Festival, Olympia International Film Festival for Children and Young People, Alkmini Theater, Amore Theater–stage B, et al. She has been repeatedly awarded and distinguished for her work (both prose and theatre).
Since 2006, she has been teaching Creative Writing and/or Theater to adults and children-teenagers, working with both public and private organizations (e.g. The Department of Theatre Studies of the University of Peloponnese, public and private post-secondary vocational schools, Metaichmio Publications, etc.). She is a motivational speaker and facilitator of activities for children and adolescents (creative writing, theater, arts and education, love of reading, etc.).
She holds degrees from the Athens University Department of Theatre Studies and the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (MA in Performance Studies).
Activities for children before the meeting The author draws inspiration from her Irish grandparents’ home island and writes this story inspired by legends of Arranmore, as well as by nature itself, which she often describes. – What do you know about Ireland and its legends? If you so wish, you may look them up and share your findings with us. – Are there legends about your place of origin that you would like to share with us? – You could, if you so wish, be inspired by nature or some legend of your place of origin and write your own fantasy story.
Saturday 27/01, 17.30-19.00
NLG Kids Lab Up to 22 participants Free admission, with online preregistration
Anyone reserving a seat at the Book Club is required to have read the book of the month. (Also, it is recommended that children bring the book with them.)
Children should always be accompanied by parents or adult attendants who should not be away from the outdoor activity.
Catherine Doyle’s The Storm Keeper’s Island is available in Greek from Metaichmio Publications.
As part of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center's collaboration with the National Library of Greece, the book for the Reading Club has been chosen by NLG staff members.
