Late Hybrids
Late Hybrids in these twenty short stories are the second and third generations of Greek Australians who, having a strong sense of their Greek identity and traditions, are not always at ease in the modern Australian world. The stories explore not just cultural differences between Greeks and Australians but also the distinctive psyche of Greek Australians when they encounter issues of life, love, death and duty to one’s past. Among the characters are a Grexit exile investment banker, a Golden Fleece, a Sentimental Wog and two murderers. As in Nikos Athanasou’s earlier Hybrids, these stories speak to all those who feel caught between two cultures.
'This new collection of short stories by Nikos Athanasou vocalises an anatomy of the new identities that emerged in the Greek-Australian experience after their long settlement in the fifth continent. The writer with a serene and detached gaze, reconstructs the emotional atmosphere of this transition with profound empathy and affection through snapshots of magic realism, transforming the actual and the realistic into a fantastic landscape of marvellous and expressionistic vignettes.' — Vrasidas Karalis, Sir Nicholas Laurantus Professor of Modern Greek, Chair of Modern Greek Department
'A rich gallery of characters, so nice and normal, at least they seem to be, but they are emotional icebergs. What we see on the surface is nothing compared to what’s going on below.' — Lex Marinos, actor, awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for his services to the performing arts
Nikos Athanasou is a short story writer, novelist, musculo-skeletal pathologist and research scientist. He was born in Perth and grew up in Sydney. Both his parents emigrated from the Greek island of Kastellorizo. He studied at Sydney High School, University of Sydney, St Bartholomew’s Hospital, and Oxford University where he is Professor of Musculoskeletal Pathology and an Emeritus Fellow at Wadham College. He works as a diagnostic pathologist and carries out research into diseases of bone, joint and soft tissues. He has written two collections of short stories, Hybrids and New and Late Hybrids; and three novels, The Greek Liar, The Person of the Man, and Palindrome, all published by Brandl & Schlesinger. He has also written numerous medical/ scientific papers and medical books.
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