The members of the Brussels Writers’ Circle are a varied bunch. Prose writers, poets, playwrights, memoirists, screenwriters and bringers of silly bits and pieces, we sweep in from all different occupations and locations twice a week to share our scrawlings with one another.
In ‘Meet the Circle’, we introduce you to some of our members, hopefully providing an insight into who we are, what we do, and what we think about Greco-Roman wrestling. Well, maybe not that last bit.
This week we will hear from Dimitris Politis who hails from a tiny whitewashed village on the Greek island of Tinos.
When did you join the group?
Back in 2009, when I followed all the sessions until 2012, when I moved away from Brussels for a while. I then rejoined the Circle in early 2015.
What were your first impressions of the group?
I was delighted to meet other writers and people who were interested in reading and writing. Their views gave a different perspective and often useful advice on my writing. There are always things that a writer might miss, forget or misrepresent. Often little details that can nonetheless make a huge difference in the end. I have found the help of the group in this sense priceless.
What are you currently working on?
My second novel “The Next Stop”, a psychological thriller taking place in a metro carriage right here in Brussels, is already finished in Greek and its English translation is also 95% done. Now I am working on my third nail-biting thriller in Greek: the story of a female archaeologist who gets entangled in the dark Mafia underworld of selling looted antiquities and pieces of stolen art. The story is linked to some antiquities snatched by the Taliban during the Kabul Museum raid back in Afghanistan in 1992. .
Several short stories of mine in Greek have been published on the web and in Greek literary magazines (links in Greek, here, here and here). One of them has been selected by a Greek publisher from more than a thousand submissions to an open short story competition with the theme: “On the edge”.
Another short story of mine in English about the Greek financial crisis has been selected to be published in an anthology of English speaking/writing writers who live here in Brussels, Belgium. So, all in all, not a dull moment!
Who are your biggest literary influences? How have they influenced you?
There are and have been so many amazing authors from earliest times to the present day that it is unfair to pick out “favourites” as such. I could just mention Stieg Larsson for his amazing thrillers; he never ceases to amaze me as to how aware he was of the IT technology of his era and how cleverly he used all of that in his thrillers. Also the choice of outcast and provocative characters by John Irving and his eccentric, vivid, almost Dickensian protagonists. The beautiful flawless writing style of Jodi Picoult. The identity-defining novels of Luigi Pirandello.
Being of Greek origin, authors such as Odysseas Elytis, the Poetry Nobel Prize winner, and Nikos Kazantzakis with his constant metaphysical and existential concerns had a great impact on me. But there are no favourites, really. Each influenced me in different ways, be it in terms of writing style, pace, plots, characters, scenes or imagery.
Nikos Kazantzakis
Odysseas Elytis
Do you have a memorable moment from the BWC that you could share?
I remember one evening a BWC member bringing a chapter from a very renowned bestselling author, presenting it as their own and asking for members’ feedback. While the overall critique was favourable, there was a lot of individual criticism on certain aspects of the writing and the presentation of the story. In the end our member of course revealed the identity of the true author and we all had a great laugh! This story proves once more that all is subjective and fluid in reading and writing and that there is not really one single golden rule!
What do you get out of the group?
Most of all, kind advice, support and friendship. The fact that it is a group composed of Brussels English-speaking ex-pats like me, gives us the opportunity to befriend and connect with like-minded people. To exchange views not only on writing and literature, but also on social, cultural and personal issues and interests which make life what it is.
Brussels Writers' Circle 