Newspaper "Kathimerini", 19/5/2013
Journalist Sandra Voulgari talks with author Sophia Madouvalou

“What I seek by writing is not recognition but understanding”

Q: How did you feel when you learned that you had been chosen as Greece's candidate for the International Andersen Award?
Α: When thirty years of writing books for children is rewarded with candidacy for the Hans Christian Andersen prize, it is natural to feel both delighted and honoured. I won't make any secret of how happy I am, but believe me when I say that what I seek by writing is not recognition but understanding. What I have discovered about myself in the course of my career as a writer, and what those who have read my books have observed, is that I am always searching for my ideal reader, my other self, who will share my vision of the world: a world of optimism, where humour plays a major role in changing life for the better, where there is a daily struggle to demolish stale and worn-out ideas in the quest for a better tomorrow.

Q:Are you a rebel?
Α: I don't know how rebellious my life has been, but my search for a personal truth through writing has certainly been rebellious. What lies at my core is a love of freedom. That's why my books invite readers young and old to misbehave in a creative way and overturn established ways.

Q: Have you found the ideal reader?
Α: All the children at the schools that invite me to visit. The twinkle in their eyes that shows they understand me is my best reward. It doesn't take me long to persuade them that imagination shapes reality. And when I do, I'm as happy as a little child myself.

Q: Your books seem to show you have a special affinity with young children. What does this spring from?
A: Perhaps from the fact that I dream like a child, perhaps because my studies in psychology and education are child-centred, perhaps because humour and the absurd are things that children delight in. Perhaps because I choose my subjects to satisfy children's insatiable curiosity about the real world, perhaps because I incite them to creative misbehaviour, perhaps because in me they find a friend who appreciates and understands them. Let us not forget that the Greek word “paramythia”, which is virtually identical in spelling with the word for fairy tales, means consolation, balm to the soul but also wise counsel. And these are all things children need.

Q: Do you often go to schools?
Α: For the past thirty years I have been visiting schools on a voluntary basis as a cultural advisor. So my answer would be exhaustingly often, as holds true for many of my fellow-authors in this field. Promoting a love of knowledge in Greek schools is our number one priority. Can you imagine what would happen if the fairy tale of life, written by all the story tellers in the world, were to become a part of all schools' daily programme? Can you imagine children setting out in life armed with imagination?

Q: But can imagination in the form of a book transform reality? What problems can such tales solve today?
Α: A book gives a heart to the mind and a mind to the heart. In a society whose goal is the amassing of material wealth and the creation of people dragooned into believing themselves incapable of claiming what would make them happy, a book becomes a weapon. For a child, to read means to understand the world and society, to discover reality and to develop the powers of thinking, speech and feeling. I believe from the bottom of my heart that literature for children can play a vital social role.

Q: Leafing through your bibliography I was struck by the poetic touches, humour and sense of the absurd that is evident from the titles alone, regardless of the subject: The Prince Who Turned Into a Castle, Rosy-Rose's Fibbing Mirror, The Chicken that Became an Egg, It's Raining Chair-legs to name but a few. You also have a bent for ingenious games with words and meanings.
Α: That's true. In all my books there are references either to love and its transcendental power, to what it means to be different, to empathy, to acceptance of others and to self esteem or to knowledge-related subjects such as diet, the environment or feelings. I clothe realism with humour and surrealism.

Q: How has the landscape changed in Greece regarding children's books since you began to write? Was it easier then to find a publisher? From your present viewpoint, how do you regard the developments and changes of course in this field that have taken place over the years here in this country?
Α: In my thirty years of writing I have followed children's literature in Greece as it came of age, became more realistic and frank and began to express the current needs and interests of children. It has left the old triad of Motherland, Faith and Family far behind and moved forward following prevailing international trends. Subject matter, language and form have all been freed of previous constraints, with the result that today there are admirable books which reflect the changes and challenges of life in the 21st century. Greek authors have never lacked imagination, nor will they in the future. What deficiencies there are lie in the book trade and reviewing. In the former case it is not the production standard of children's books that is poor, but the nature of their content: banal texts of low quality, with little literary or aesthetic value and even less in the way of new ideas to offer. Yet they are published because there is a market for them. As for reviewing, with very few exceptions so-called “critics”simply offer summaries of the book's story-line. Without genuine criticism, it is impossible for the potential reader to differentiate between one children's book and another as regards its literary quality.

Q: These days, could you make a living solely as an author?
Α: It depends whether your question refers to the days before the economic crisis or since. With 70 published titles I could well be rich in many other countries. In little Greece the market's tiny, too – and the financial rewards correspondingly meagre.

Q: What advice would you give a new author who's aware that he may not make any money from his books?
Α: To do what he loves doing and of necessity pursue a parallel career he also finds enjoyable. I know some outstanding authors who have earned their living working in the inland revenue, in a bank or in education. I have been exceptionally fortunate in that my executive position in educational television has offered me very creative work writing and producing educational materials to supplement the ministry of education's syllabuses. That's how I have been able to bring imagination into schools.

Q: You have had a long and creative career in educational television. How does it feel to be a servant of two masters, as it were?
A: They go hand in hand. For example, my most recent work, a cartoon series for language teaching called A Letter and a Story, which has won several prizes, is based on 24 poetic and surrealistic stories that I wrote. I might also mention the series Stories Without End, which aims at promoting children's literature, and many others too.

Q: Tell me some of your favourite books, ones which may have coincided with landmarks in your career.
Α : They're all my children and I love them dearly; but my first book, Doremifasolasi holds a special place in my affections, as does I Give you a Little Heart, The Magic Mirror, The Chicken who Became an Egg, The Teacher whose Head Became a Saucepan and The Butterfly Garden. These are all important to me because they are emotional points of reference. Oh! And I forgot Kolotumba.

Q: After so many books for children and young people, you suddenly wrote a novel for adults. What led you to it?
A: Actually, for years now I've been writing almost as much for adults as for children. For me, literature does not have labels. The Harem for Men is the first novel I've had published, but it's not the first I've written. For me, writing is an ongoing personal journey towards self-knowledge through working on subjects concerning relations between people. Why The Harem for Men at this point in time? Probably because I have grown up and decided that I have something to say to adults, too.

Q: Does it feel different to be writing for a reading public more advanced in years?
A: When I'm writing for children I feel in a happy mood, as if through my art I am taking them hand in hand with imagination on an excursion into life, so they can develop the way they think and their powers of feeling in the best way possible. It may seem easier to shape the “truth” a child perceives through your writing because a young reader has had fewer of the experiences in life that enable him to make reasoned comparisons. Nevertheless, writing for young people makes no less stringent demands upon the author, although different from those required when writing for adults. I speak to a child on all kinds of subjects as if he were an adult, in simple and truthful words. However, I measure these words, rendering difficult concepts through easily-grasped symbolism and leaving a margin for dreams and hopes. When I write for adults I am free to express my thoughts on another plane and can explore more deeply, with much soul-searching. My distinguishing characteristics are humour, a sense of the absurd and demolishing stereotypes. As I told you, I like subversion and unruliness in general.

Q: Do you have any new ideas in your mind? What book are you working on at the moment?
Α: The world around us has so many irritating features that they make me productive. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, I have lots of ideas in my head at the same time. I have no time to sit back and take pleasure in seeing a new book come out because I am already hard at work on the next. At present I am writing the second and planning a third book in a series on innovation and democracy in education. After The Teacher Whose Head became a Saucepan will come The Teacher with Dreams in his Eyes, followed by The Ghost in the Blackboard.

Q: What do you dream of?
Α: Books in every home and school. Teachers who are enthusiastic about books. A minister of education with vision, a minister of culture who does not, half way through the year, close down the National Book Centre and the programme set up in schools to encourage reading, letting down both pupils and teachers. I dream of all the methodical mediocrities and miserly mean-spirited who flourish in this country being swallowed up by the dragons of the fairy tales. And would you believe it, an idea for a fairy tale has just sprung into my mind!
 

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