Alliance Française of Washington in partnership with the Embassy of Greece will welcome next month Greek author Christos Markogiannakis at the American capital for an event and book signing. Christos represents the new generation of Greek Diaspora. Based in Paris, he writes in French and has already published two books, that have been best-sellers in France. “Greece in America” had the chance to speak to him before his arrival in the US and he generously offered us an insight about his literary work and sources of inspiration.

Chrsitos Markogiannakis is looking forward to meeting you in person on Friday May 17 for an illustrated talk that will make you look at art differently! Location: Alliance Française de Washington DC (RSVP here)

A lawyer specialized in Criminal Law, you found artistic expression through writing literary fiction and what you call criminartistic books. Is this journey a product of a spontaneous inspirational shift or rather that of a mature intellectual quest?

It started as a temporary shift, as a need to express myself in a creative way. Today, five years later, writing has become my life. I have since left the world of real criminals and their defense, and devote my energy to creating fictional characters, directing their crimes, their psychology and motives, along with murders represented in art. My experience as a lawyer and a criminologist helps with the plots, but believe me that life remains –by far- stranger than fiction!
 

Two of your books, The Orsay Murder Club: A criminartistic Investigation and The Louvre Murder Club: A criminartistic Tour in the Louvre are published in English. How does art, in these celebrated Parisian museums, become "alive" in your work and engages the reader? 

Crime is omnipresent in art. For centuries artists have been inspired by Greek mythology, the Bible and History, all three full of blood and intrigue. So, I take works of art from different eras and styles representing murders, and with the reader, we treat them as crime scenes, the way CSI would. We launch an investigation based on the clues provided by the artists. Before Greek vases, paintings, statues or photos we ask who is the victim, who is the murderer, what is their motive, M.O and background. Are the alleged killers really guilty, have they been framed, do they have an alibi? The truth ad the end of these criminartistic investigations often comes as a surprise!
 

As a prominent member of the modern Greek Diaspora and based on your experience, could you share with us a couple of suggestions on how the Greek letters and culture may attain a larger international visibility?

Reaching audiences through contemporary technological means like social media, by platforms in constant search for content, and by adding a new perspective into millennia-old stories, are some of the most efficient ways to attain more visibility. The Greek language, and mainly the Greek way of thinking, from philosophy to theater, from politics to sciences have been the cornerstone of western civilization. And all members of the Greek Diaspora are ambassadors to this truth, contributing in our own way. What I do, with my criminartistic books and conferences in France and around the world, is introduce or re-introduce readers and audiences to the Greek myths, their influence, and their echoes, through a different and captivating angle: crime.
 

Finally, I can’t help asking a question related to your native land, the island of Crete. Although your literary work is tightly connected with your field of studies, are you able to say that you have also received inspiration from the sights and sounds of your birthplace? 

We all are products of our environments, especially those experienced in early life (along with genes, but that is the criminologist talking!). Crete, its history, topography, and culture, along with family influences have shaped the way I think and act. However, and just as significantly, my studies, field of work, literary and artistic interests, and my life abroad have played a major role too. I have to admit that the first killer I learned about was the Minotaur, the infamous Cretan monster half bull, half man, who devoured his victims in the labyrinth of Knossos. Minotaur’s murderer, the venerated Athenian hero Theseus, was the first serial killer I encountered. Though, to his defense, Theseus only killed murderers. He was the Dexter Morgan of antiquity.

Christos Markogiannakis was born in 1980 in Greece. He studied law and criminology in Athens and Paris and worked for several years as a criminal lawyer. Author of crime novels and “Criminartistic” installations, mixing art and crime, he currently lives in Paris and gives conferences in France and abroad on the representation of murder in art. His latest criminartistic books, Scènes de Crime au Louvre (2017, Editions Le Passage) and Scènes de Crime à Orsay (2018, Editions Le Passage) are published in both French and English and enjoy great commercial and Media success across Europe.