On the occasion of the World Day of the Greek language declared by the Greek State on 9 February, the General Secretariat for Greeks of Abroad, in cooperation with the Greek Branch of the International Council for Children and Youth Literature – the Greek Children’s Book Cycle, sent a message that traveled in many languages of the world to every place where there are Greeks.
The General Secretariat for Greeks Abroad, in cooperation with the Greek Branch of the International Council for Children and Youth Literature, announced a competition for writing a small history/fairy tale by children and youth aged 8-16, on the theme: «Greek language is the soul, the soul of civilization».
Eligible contestants:
Children of Greek origin 8-16 years of age who study Greek at the age of can take part.
Text requirements:
- The text must be written in Greek.
- In connection with Vangelis Iliopoulos’ message, the participants are invited to write their own text (i.e. a fictional story, a short story or a fairy tale) that can be addressed to small or adult readers.
- The size of the text must not exceed 2000 words.
- The new text must include a phrase from the message of Vangelis Iliopoulos on the Day of the Greek language.
- Texts must be e-mailed in electronic form, in Word format (.doc), to: ggae@ggae.gr and ibbyreadandshare@gmail.com
- The name of each file must contain the surname of the author in Latin letters (e.g. papadopoulos.doc).
- In the subject line, it must be read: “DAY OF THE GREEK LANGUAGE – TALE WRITING“.
- The writer’s data must be specified in the text document.
The deadline for submission of works is 15 June 2018.
The best works will receive awards and will be printed in a special edition. Participation in the contest means that the author of the text grants permission to use it for publication purposes.
The evaluation of the texts will be conducted by a jury, created by the Greek Branch of the International Council for Children and Youth Literature – the Greek Children’s Book Cycle. The jury reserves the right to award special awards according to the age or degree of knowledge of the Greek language of each young writer.
Text by Vangelis Iliopoulos
Greek Language Day – February 9, 2018
«The Greek language is the soul, the soul of civilization. The soul filled with light, which radiates all over the Earth, shimmers in many other languages, and displays the history of humanity. Like there is no life without light, there is no civilization without language. Homer sang in this language, ancient tragedians taught it, modern poets wrote in this language. In this language, humans tried to develop a system of law, so that all people could co-exist together, and so Democracy was born. Philosophy, science and art were based on it. Even today, when a certain language we speak of philosophy, science and art, we borrow words from the Greek language. If once the Greek words for some reason decide to leave, then not only the Greeks will not be able to think and communicate. In all languages, especially in areas such as philosophy and science, darkness would fall. Because the Greek language is the light, the light of civilization. It is a light filled with the soul».