By Evelyn Karatzas
Growing up, Eleni Elefterias wasn’t the biggest fan of learning Greek – she was forced to speak Greek at home and she hated going to Greek school.
It wasn’t until she hit her teenage years that she developed a new-found love for the language and its rich history after she experienced a night of Greek music that changed her perception.
Later, she decided to turn her passions into a career by teaching others and writing about it full-time.
Eleni is now a Greek teacher at the NSW School of Languages in Sydney, with more than 40 years in the field, and for the last eight years, has also taken on the title of ‘author.’
In her time as a writer so far, she has written and published five books, with her most recent release being her academic book – ‘Whose is this Song?’.
From music to writing:
Speaking with The Greek Herald, Eleni revealed that before getting into books, her passions for writing stemmed from writing music and lyrics in Greek and in English.
She was just 13 years old when she started her musical journey. During this time, she also learnt how to play guitar and piano.
“When I was growing up, I couldn’t speak Greek, and it wasn’t until my parents forced me to go to a Greek concert in 1972 and I heard the music of Mikis Theodorakis, that I became inspired to learn Greek,” Eleni told The Greek Herald.
“I always say that kids nowadays have to be inspired to want to learn the language and it’s so important that you speak to them in Greek.
“They’ve got to find something that interests them and for me, it was the music, and that’s what inspired my writing and Greek language journey.”
At 25 years old, Eleni was then given a grant from the Australian Council of the Arts to go to Greece and study at two conservatoriums.
“This led to me touring all around Germany, Austria and to islands all over Greece with the composer Thomas Bakalakos, and I honestly had the best time of my life,” Eleni said.
A passion for writing:
After accomplishing 50 years in the music industry, Eleni said her switch to writing allowed her to get creative and produce works to inspire others.
“I care about writing things that will inspire others to want to search and find the beauty of what Greek literature is,” Eleni said.
“I just want to promote the Greek culture and language in any way that I can, because I believe that if we lose the language, we lose everything and it’s too important to not be saved.
“We’ve got very rich cultural and literary heritage, and we should be so proud of that and promote it as much as we can.”
The Greek author said she has written books for all ages, including four bilingual children’s books to date. They are titled ‘My Grandma is a musician’, ‘When can you play with me?’, ‘I want to learn Greek’ and ‘Visit to the Panathinaiko Stadium’.
Eleni said they explore themes of education, identity, family, travel and just growing up Greek with nostalgic memories of her childhood.
“I decided to write bilingual children’s books so that anyone can read them, you don’t have to be Greek,” she said.
“You can read them using the Greeklish too, so, if someone’s married to a non-Greek, and they want to read to their children in Greek, they can, and it gives the kids the opportunity to hear the Greek language and start to understand it.
“Each book also has a QR code, so parents or anyone reading the books can access a bilingual reading, a Greek reading, and a song or music video that goes along with it.”
As a teacher and author, Eleni said her books have also been great resources for teachers in schools.
‘Whose is this Song’:
In March 2024, Eleni released her book ‘Whose is this Song’ Balkan Nationalism, Greece and Shared Culture’, which was inspired by the documentary film ‘Whose is the Song’ by Adela Peeva.
“It’s a compilation of articles by travel writers, academics (mainly with Greek Australian backgrounds), and experts in their fields of music, film history, politics, and social sciences who dive into nationalism and Greek culture in the Balkans,” she said.
“It is a book for the student, but also for the general reader who is fascinated by books delving into rich cultural heritage and complex history.”
The Greek Australian author said her latest text provides insights to various regions of the Balkans, and showcases the similarities between things like their music, history, food, films, and traditions.
“It is a very inclusive book that’s designed for everybody that wants to learn about the Balkan countries,” Eleni said.
“It goes into Balkan nationalism, Greece, and the shared culture we have.”
The book features writers and academics including Professor Vrasidas Karalis, Dr Alfred Vincent, Professor Nicholas Doumanis, Dr Helen Vatsikopoulos and many more.
Eleni revealed what she hopes readers understand from reading the book.
“The Balkans is such a beautiful place, and I just want people to see that we have a lot of shared culture between us,” she said.
“We make the same foods, we dance the same dances, we wear a lot of the same traditional clothes, we listen to the same music and some of the words are even similar too.”
Eleni’s books are available for purchase via the Greek Orthodox Community of Melbourne, at Bilingual Bookshop in St Peters, at Greek Cargo in Earlwood, and Everest Books in Roselands, Sydney. Digital and hard copies are also available on Amazon.
