Alexis Kyritsopoulos illustrates ‘LIGO AKOMA’ – a fairy tale inspired by Seferis’s poems

By Eleni Bistika, KATHIMERINI 16/05/2012 Illustrations for children and adults with a pure childlike heart by Alexis Kyritsopoulos and poetry by Giorgos Seferis – a tender fairy tale from Ikaros Publications and the Benaki Museum has arrived at the newsroom to show us how we can rise just a little higher...And how we need this at a time when everything is in flux and time seems to have come to a standstill in a ‘today’ with no ‘tomorrow’. With beloved and creative souls departing, and those of us who remain trying to keep our wits about us and our composure – both of which are difficult...A painter-poet, Alexis Kyritsopoulos has painted with images and words ‘a fairy tale inspired by the poems of Giorgos Seferis’.The result is a gem of a book that can dispel the gloom and set free the eagle of our carefree childhood years, with ‘Just a Little More’ effort to soar a little higher.The cover shows the way – mutual aid, cooperation, perseverance and the eagle, even without a glider, soars high on the wind of companionship...‘“Once upon a time,” a grandfather and grandson in a small boat with its sail folded begin to unfold the fairy tale it holds within: a mermaid in the open sea, sea caves, and a shipwreck, just like at the bottom of Kaldera. The journey continues until, in the grandfather’s garden amidst the wildflowers and the green grasses of spring, the grandson discovers the secret of friendship, which lasts forever, even when the fairy tale ends. Alexis Kyritsopoulos dedicates it ‘to Zoe and Anastasia’.