Maggie Nelson in Athens

One of the most prominent contemporary American writers, Maggie Nelson, visits Athens on the occasion of her book The Argonauts (2015) getting its Greek translation. Why did she choose this title for her - New York Times bestseller and National Book Critics Circle Award winner - book? According to mythology, Theseus was the founder of the city of Athens. In his honour, Athenians preserved Argo, the ship that brought him to and back from Colchis with the Golden Fleece, by replacing its decaying parts one by one. In the end, was it still the same ship? Nelson centres her narrative around this same thought puzzle that kept our Athenian ancestors entertained. While her partner, artist Harry Dodge, was undergoing his gender transition, Nelson was pregnant with their child. This part memoir, part theory, genre-bending work ponders on the nature of love, the fluidity of relations, identities, and motherhood.

The conversation will be conducted fully in English inside the welcoming social agora of the Kypseli Municipal Market.