New Swedish Books, Autumn 2018 1
15 Autumn 2018 The Battle of Troy It is unlikely
that anyone could be better suited to interpret Homer than Theodor Kallifatides, whose comprehensive writing centres around war and love. Kallifatides believes that The Iliad is the most powerful anti-war poem ever written, but that many people today find it difficult to read. His aim is to give more people access to this epic about Achaeans and Trojans, about seemingly unstaunchable violence, about anger and sorrow. So he chose to retell the Iliad in prose, emphasising the human elements and downplaying the gods. He has set it within a beautiful backstory of a group of Greek schoolchildren during World War II who draw their own lessons from Homer’s epic. All this makes The Battle of Troy more than just a free interpretation of a classic; it is a testimony to the power of poetry to overcome time. Theodor Kallifatides (b. 1938) The Battle of Troy Publisher Albert Bonniers Förlag www.albertbonniersforlag.se Rights Other Press Alexandra Poreda aporeda@otherpress.com Selected Works Ett nytt land utanför mitt fönster, prose, 2001 Det gångna är inte en dröm, novel, 2010 Brev till min dotter, novel, 2012 Selected Literary Prizes Stina Aronsons pris 2002 Signe Ekblad-Eldhs pris 2008 Doblougska priset 2017 Photo: Florence Montmare