NATIONAL PRIZE FOR LITERATURE 2011

In the age of David Hockney, Derek Jarman, Kenneth Anger and Andy Warhol, when bisexuality was at first radical and then trendy, a young man is faced with the ambiguity of sexual roles and oscillates between In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower and Special Friendships.

A frank and moving coming of age autobiographical novel about discovery of love, art, sexual and artistic identity. A journey leading from the swinging London of the late ‘60s to contemporary Alexandria.

Weaving personal experience with modern social and historical events, internationally acclaimed Cypriot artist Andreas Karayan brings forth IMMORAL TALES, a book inhabited by colourful characters that captures the essence of life.

A candid literary erotic odyssey, and the winner of the Cypriot National Prize for Literature, 2011.

Grounds for the Award

The coming of age book “Immoral Tales: London – Alexandria” is a candid look at the life of the author, in the form of an autobiographical novel. Through a patchwork of images, Andreas Karayan succeeds with real verve and sensibility in describing the conflicting attractions of his body and soul. The book is a profound self-examination, which blends organically place and time, conveying their atmosphere elegantly with a disarming sincerity. It is in essence a bold attempt to seek identity without the author resorting to self-censorship. On the contrary, he unveils himself and his conflicts finding in the process of writing wholeness, in the interaction of art and life. The writer swathes the facts of his life in a poetic myth and successfully sketches characters who, with their individuality, are in the end transformed into dramatis personae. The whole is presented in an airy manner, with a sense of humour and self-mockery, but also with rich cultural references which bear witness to an excellent education.