Rhea Galanaki was born in Crete in 1947. She is one of the most important Greek writers today. Galanaki studied history and archeology in Athens and has published novels, short stories, essays, and poetry. In 2004, she won the Athens National Academy Award. Her book The life of Ismail Ferik Pasha (1989) was the first Greek novel to be included in the 1994 UNESCO Collection of Representative Works. Two of her more recent novels, Jouda’s Fires and Oedipus’ Ashes (2009) and Absolute Humiliation (2015), received widespread attention due to their literary value but also to their interest with current issues such as the awakening of racism and other consequences of the economic crisis on Greek society and identity.
