Sydney celebrates life and work of philhellene Lord Byron

Sydney will celebrate the life and work of philhellene Lord Byron on occasion of the 200th anniversary of his death (19 April 1824) in a public talk by Professor Vrasidas Karalis and Professor Mark Byron.

The event, organised by the Consulate General of Greece in Sydney in association with the Greek Festival of Sydney, will take place on 18 April, at the Theatrette in NSW Parliament.

Lord Byron is globally known as the poet who came to the aid of the Greek nation in a time of need during the Greek War of Independence. This intimate bond with Greece extends to Byron’s poetry, as well as to its subsequent reception and influence upon Greek literature.

The talk sketches out a brief account of this bond towards defining what it means for Byron to be considered a “Greek poet.”

Venue: Parliamentary Theatrette
NSW Parliament House 6 Macquarie St, Sydney NSW 2000
Date: 18 April, 7pm
Language: English

Free admission but booking essential: https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1172039?

Professor Vrasidas Karalis

Sir Nicholas Laurantus Professor of Modern Greek
Chair of Modern Greek Department, University of Sydney

For the last 20 years, the main area of research of Professor Vrasidas Karalis has been in Modern Greek, Byzantine, Cultural Studies and more recently, New Testament Studies. He have also worked in translation, especially of the Australian Nobel Laureate Patrick White and translated three of his major novels into Greek (Voss, The Vivisector, A Cheery Soul).

For his services, he has received the Federation Medal from the Federal Government in 2003.

Professor Mark Byron
Discipline of English and Writing, University of Sydney

Professor Mark Byron teaches and publishes across the genres and practices of Modernism: prose, poetry, drama, and film, as well as textual and editorial theory. He is currently working on a project concerning how leading Modernist authors – James Joyce, Ezra Pound, Samuel Beckett, and others – absorb early medieval thought and textual practices into their work.

His research also engages with the complex interactions of Transatlantic Modernism and Contemporary Literature with the artistic and literary traditions of China and Japan.