Interviewing Ioanna Papadopoulou

Hellooo!

I recently reviewed and loved Winter Harvest by Ioanna Papadopoulou a powerful and surprising reinterpretation of the story of Demeter and the creation of the Greek Gods. One of the best fantasy novels of the year and I could not pass the opportunity to ask Ioanna some questions on this book.

How do you like to booktempt Winter Harvest?

That is really hard! I will give it a go!

Winter Harvest is a dark fantasy mythology retelling that explores the often-ignored role of Demeter in Persephone’s story but also in the wider Greek mythology. Filled with transformations (both physical and mental) my Demeter is unable to belong to the world and role she was assigned by her brother. Winter Harvest chronicles Demeter’s life up until the second return of Persephone from the underworld and shows her evolution into a Goddess linked with both life and death.

What called you towards basing the story on Demeter and what did you want to do with her in your story?

There is a very personal reason behind the reason I chose to write Demeter’s story. As a young girl, like many others, I loved mythology and as a Greek person the mythology I interacted with the most through theatre productions, books, music, archaeological remnants and myths that became nearly folkloric, was that of ancient Greece. I don’t remember a time I didn’t know these stories. I always loved Demeter’s story as the bringer of season and identified with her anger. It was so disappointing when I read Greek mythology written in English that Demeter’s anger and power was changed and some of her most iconic myths were hardly ever mentioned in books. I think Winter Harvest was written partly as my attempt to fix this mistake.

When I started exploring the myths with the intent to write the book, I admired Demeter in a new way which further motivated me to continue writing. I appreciated the number of messages and stories she can uncover as an unwed mother, a Goddess with male human lovers, the contradiction between a mother that brings the word to destruction for one daughter while throws away two other children and many others. There is a deep, but also problematic, depiction of independence in Demeter that I think subconsciously even as a child I understood even if I couldn’t explain it.

Demeter is not simply a hero here – was that important to you in your depiction?

Absolutely! I specifically and very consciously crafted and arranged the myths to depict a corruption arc. One of the messages I wanted to explore was how women in power support patriarchy. Demeter is an example of that. Her ability to empathize is slowly consumed by her need to retain power and she, like her sisters and brothers, inflicts pain to weaker people, including victim women. Many readers have picked up on how Demeter always upsets the status quo of situations but her work stops when she gets what she wants. She is not interested in making the world a better place, just a safer one for herself and her progeny. 

The story uses this to comment on the wider Greek mythology. As a Greek author what do these tales mean for you? What tends to get overlooked in other retellings?

Greek mythology is something I don’t remember learning. I always knew it to an extent, as the origin of names and spots in the city I grew up. Even the name of where I am from is linked with an ancient Greek tale and history. These tales are part of my culture but in a different way than they were for Ancient Greek people. I never believed in their truth (although as a child I strongly held the opinion that these were dead Gods) but I also never rejected their importance. They existed in a special middle space of something I didn’t believe but was very much part of what made me. I think Greek mythology in Greece is now an amalgamated entity, a remnant of the past but also an agent of the present that further explains our contemporary place in the world. It is both mythology and folklore.

I think the retellings often miss what many people miss about Greece as well. That it is a very complicated place (of course all countries are complicated the more you know them). Greece is complicated because it stands in the middle of Eastern and Western traditions and has always been influenced by both sides. Modern retellings try to focus on that western tradition that exists in Greek mythology which often “cleans” the myths from their idiosyncrasies and problematic but also very modern messages. There is an understandable desire to make the myths fit their own world view and that of their readers. They are retellings after all and products to be consumed. My problem is more that this has happened to such an extent and certain myths have been told so many times that sometimes I think I see a retelling of the retelling, instead of the original material. Which is also fine. I think any iteration of Greek mythology is good. What I fear is that this will lead to a saturation of the market and public understanding of the myths will become less related to ancient Greece.

Another small personal annoyance I always had is that many retellings do not write Greece as a real place. The myths are often so specific about the name of capes, rivers or mountains and this geographical uniqueness is missed. So, I was extra careful to add all the names mentioned in myths and do comparative research from various ancient sources to find the names of places.

What is the Greek SF and Fantasy scene like? Any authors you recommend?

I must admit I do not read fiction in Greek anymore. Or at least very rarely. So, I am not the best person to suggest Greek authors writing in Greek.

But, there are so many amazing Greek SFF writers that write in English. The first one that always comes to mind is the amazing Natalia Theodoridou. There are also the exceptionally talented Eugenia Triantafyllidou, Danai Christopoulou, Avra Margariti, Sophia-Maria Nicholopoulos, Eleanna Castroianni, Kat Kourbeti, Eva Papasoulioti, Phoenix Alexander and so many others. Looking at these names will definitely lead you to more talented authors!

What else can we look forward to you and where can we find out more?

I don’t have anything set to be published anytime soon. My current WIP is nearly finished so I hope to start sending it around in 2024.

I am on most social media (under IoannaP_Author) and you can also find me through my newly made website (ioannapauthor.com).

If there was one book, not your own, that you wish you could get everyone to read what would it be and why?

Another terribly hard question. I am not sure I have a book that fills that role but I have two poems. So, I will tell you about them.

One is This be the verse by Phillip Larkin. I don’t think any poem has ever spoken to my soul like this work. It is very pessimistic, but I think, if you see it as a warning towards the misfortune that threatens the world, it helped me realize that sadness is not an esoteric condition but a disease we spread. While it is not the main cause for all of the world’s misfortunes, it is the cause for many of our everyday trials.

The second poem is Ithaka by Nikos Kazantzakis. It is, kind of, a mythology retelling poem inspired by the Odyssey. It suggests we stop focusing on results and achievements but on the road towards them because life is actually that part in between achieving your goal and how you do it. If you don’t find happiness there, achieving your dreams will not fill you with pride and contentment.