Petrakis’ 23rd Book Coming This November

At 87, Harry Mark Petrakis still has many stories to tell. Known as “the great storyteller,” his forthcoming novel Cavafy’s Stone and Other Village Tales will be released this November. We spoke to him recently about his work, and the forthcoming novel.

You are the son of a poor priest from Crete, and grew up on the south side of Chicago. This immigrant experience is evident throughout your work. How has this has inspired you?

Not that I think being Greek is better, but what writer could ask for anything richer than our past, then that from small civilizations, islands – sprang a culture that still dominates Western Civilization today? I’m grateful for that heritage; I’ve played off it. That conflict between the grandeur of the past and the poverty of the present is the stuff of drama and conflict.

I’ve taught at more than 65 writers’ conferences, and I always say, write what you know. I don’t consider myself a “Greek writer.” I write about human beings and most happen to be Greek. They could be anything. I write about love, death, hatred – there’s no such thing as Greek sorrow or German joy, etc. – these are individual things to a character.

This has compelled you to write novels like Hour of the Bell against the backdrop of the Greek War of Independence, weaving characters into the stunning – and sometimes brutal – historical facts.

I have a responsibility to tell a story as truthfully as I can, warts and all.

Over the years, you’ve written many books.

About 23. There were about 10-11 novels, four or five collections of short stories, three or four of essays, a couple of memoirs and two commissioned biographies along the way.

Tell us about Cavafy’s Stone and Other Village Tales, published by Wicker Park Press.

I didn’t think I had another book in me. I was just writing. I started writing about a village in Greece, kind of like ‘A Spoon River Anthology.’ The next thing I know, I’ve got 65,000 pages – another book. It’s a series of short stories based in a Greek village. Stories include the life’s impact on the old priest who sees a young female tourist sunbathing in the nude; a homosexual schoolteacher comforted by a small stone that once belonged to Cavafy; a girl marries the handsomest man in the village, only to have him turn out to be a brutal wife-beater, and more.

You’re first published work remains one of your most popular.

After many years of trials and tribulations, in 1957, the short story “Pericles on 31^st Street” appeared in Atlantic Monthly. Back then I was selling real estate; things were tough. I got a note that they were buying “Pericles.” There was a furry of excitement. I remember I sat down and began to cry – for so many things – for writing, for more. My father had died; he had great faith that this would happen, but he wasn’t there to see it. After many years of sacrifice, it was finally happening.

One book was adapted into a movie.

A Dream of Kings (1966), a New York Times-Bestseller, was made into a movie in 1969, starring Anthony Quinn and Irene Papas. The lead character, Matsoukas – one of my favorites – is revisited in the sequel, Ghost of the Sun. Quinn loved it and tried for two years to get it produced, but it never materialized.

Petrakis lives in Northwest Indiana with his wife of 65 years, Diana. The acclaimed author continues to write and enjoy family life.