Our Hellenic Literary Festival that took place Nov. 29 2014 at St. George in Bethesda, MD was a success! Even though it was a holiday weekend, several people attended this exciting event to hear the wonderful authors speak (Dr. Sam Chekwas, Rigas Kappatos, Calliope Toufidou, Michael Haldas, Hara Spiliou, and Dr. Aphrodite Matsakis). This event was originally planned by the Hellenic Group of Washington D.C. with co-sponsors being The Hellenic Society of Prometheas, and Dr. Sam Chekwas, Seaburn Books.
The opening comments were made by Lefteris Karmiris, President of The Hellenic Society of Prometheas. The Master of Ceremony was Mrs. Patty Apostolides, of The Hellenic Writers' Group of Washington D.C., who introduced all the speakers.
Photos of the event are included below:
The food table was lavishly presented, thanks to all who brought food, dessert, and drinks, and also thanks go to those who helped prepare it - Dr. Paras and Mrs. Toula Paras, Dr. Christine Saba, Calliope Toufidou, Dr. Aphrodite Matsakis, Hoda Makar, Lefteris Karmiris, Anthony Apostolides II, and Patty Apostolides.
Dr. Sam Chekwas was the Keynote Speaker, and one of the co-sponsers of the event. He has a publishing house called Seaburn Books, in NY, and has written 18 books, mostly in Greek. His speech was in Greek. His latest book is The Beauty of Feeling Greek. He has been honored with a Hellenism Award by the Greek government and became an honorary Greek citizen in 2014.
Mr. Rigas Kappatos, a Greek poet who has written over a dozen poetry books in Greek and in Spanish, delighted the group with his poetry that he read out loud in Greek.
Mrs. Calliope Toufidou talks about her book about the Greek island of Zakynthos where she was born. Her lovely book is titled From the Palate to the Spirit. She ended her speech with a beautiful poem.
Michael Haldas spoke about his book
Sacramental Living. He has presented his book to the Pope and to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. The book was a result of letters he wrote to his 12 year old daughter.
Hara Spiliou talked about her life and recited one of her poems in Greek, from her new poetry book Ston Asterimos Tis Verenikis.
Dr. Aphrodite Matsakis, psychologist and author of over 12 books, delighted the audience with excerpts from her books. (She replaced Amphitrite Manuel last minute because Mrs. Manuel could not make it.) Thank you Aphrodite!
A photo of the audience listening to one of the speakers. Everyone was in a pleasant mood and enjoyed themselves in this event.
The Authors came together here. Front row: Dr. Aphrodite Matsakis, Hara Spiliou, Rigas Kappatos, Calliope Toufidou. Back row, Michael Haldas, Dr. Sam Chekwas, Patty Apostolides.
More group photos. Lefteris Karmiris, Hara Spiliou, Dr. Aphrodite Matsakis, Dr. Peter Paras, Dr. Sam Chekwas, Rigas Kappatos, Calliope Toufidou, Dr. Nick Lagakos.
Afterwards, everyone partook of the refreshments and visited the tables of all the authors and bought books. It was a delightful event and we received many, many emails thanking us for the enjoyable evening. Thank you all who helped make the literary festival a success!!
