Angelo Loukakis (1951-) is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

author. He was born in Sydney, Australia, attended Fort Street High School, studied English literature at the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW) is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was established in 1949. The university comprises seven faculties, through which it offers bachelor's, master's and docto ...

, and acquired a Dip. Ed. from

Sydney Teachers College The Sydney Teachers College was a tertiary education institution that trained school teachers in Sydney, Australia. It existed from 1906 until the end of 1981, when it became the Sydney Institute of Education, a part of the new Sydney College o ...

and a doctorate in creative arts from the

University of Technology, Sydney The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is a public research university located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The university was founded in its current form in 1988, though its origins as a technical institution can be traced back t ...

. He has worked as a teacher, editor, publisher and scriptwriter.

Writing career

Loukakis is the author of three novels; two collections of short stories, as well as non-fiction work, such as a children's book on Greeks in Australia, a book on ancestry based on the Australian version of the television series '' Who Do You Think You Are?'' and a travel book on

Norfolk Island Norfolk Island ( , ; ) is an States and territories of Australia, external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head, New South Wales, Evans Head and a ...

. Loukakis’s parents came from the island of

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

and his novel, ''The Memory of Tides'', which has as a backdrop the

Battle of Crete The Battle of Crete (, ), codenamed Operation Mercury (), was a major Axis Powers, Axis Airborne forces, airborne and amphibious assault, amphibious operation during World War II to capture the island of Crete. It began on the morning of 20 May ...

, honours their generation. Of that novel he has said:

I wanted to show the extraordinary and positive relationships that were formed between Greeks and Aussies at a time of profound crisis. There were many instances of cross-cultural revelation during the Greek campaign. For humble, frightened village people an awakening and relief—they could scarcely believe that complete strangers would come from across the world to try to protect them from the Nazi tyrants. For Aussie boys, an awareness of a culture that had given birth to the very things they were fighting for—freedom and democracy.

His collection of short stories ''For the Patriarch'' received an award at the 1981

NSW Premier's Award The New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, also known as the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, were first awarded in 1979. They are among the richest literary awards in Australia. Notable prizes include the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction, th ...

s and was set on the NSW HSC syllabus between 1986 and 2001. He was the script writer for the 1980 film ''Dancing'', directed by George Whaley and produced by

David Elfick David Elfick (born 20 December 1944) is an Australian film and television writer, director, producer and occasional actor. He is known for his association with writer-director Phillip Noyce, with whom he has collaborated on films including ''New ...

, which was shown at the

Melbourne International Film Festival The Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) is an annual film festival held over three weeks in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was founded in 1952 and is one of the oldest film festivals in the world following the founding of the Venic ...

. He was writer of the SBS television series drama ''The Girl from Steel City'', screened 1987-88 The Girl from Steel City. Angelo Loukakis was a member of the Literature Board of the Australia Council (1985–87), founding Chair of the NSW Writers' Centre (1991), and Executive Director of the

Australian Society of Authors The Australian Society of Authors (ASA) was formed in 1963 as the organisation to promote and protect the rights of Australia's authors and illustrators. The Fellowship of Australian Writers played a key role it its establishment. The organisati ...

(2010–16).

Bibliography

Novels

* ''Messenger'' (1992) * ''The Memory of Tides'' (2006) * ''Houdini's Flight'' (2010)

Short story collections

* ''For the Patriarch'' (1981) * ''Vernacular Dreams'' (1986)

Children's

* ''The Greeks'' (1981) (non-fiction)

References

External links

*Angelo Loukakis at http://www.austlit.edu.au/run?ex=ShowAgent&agentId=A(9l *Angelo Loukakis: ''The Memory of Tides'' (reviews) at https://web.archive.org/web/20091011130732/http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,20398442-5001123,00.html. *Review of ''The Memory of Tides'' by Liam Davison at http://www.travel-to-crete.com/page.php?page_id=486 *Review of ''Houdini's Flight'' by Peter Pierce at http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/books/houdinis-flight-20100618-ym5g.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Loukakis, Angelo Living people 20th-century Australian novelists 21st-century Australian novelists Australian male novelists Australian people of Greek descent Australian male short story writers 20th-century Australian short story writers 21st-century Australian short story writers 20th-century Australian male writers 21st-century Australian male writers Year of birth missing (living people)