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A native of the northern Greek island of Thasos, Vassilikos grew up in Thessaloniki, graduating from law school there before moving to Athens to work as a journalist. Because of his political activities he was forced into exile following the 1967 military coup. He spent the next seven years of his life in Italy, France, and the U.S. (New York). He studied TV Direction at Yale University, Drama School - SRT School of Radio and Television. Between 1981 and 1984 Vassilikos served as general manager of the Greek state television channel ERT1. He has also served as Greece’s ambassador to UNESCO (1996-2004). He has worked as assistant director in foreign productions, as documentary filmmaker, screenwriter, screenplay editor, journalist, writer, and as an actor. Vassilikos is a highly prolific author and his books have been widely translated. He has published more than 120 books, including novels, plays, and poetry. Some of the most well known titles are ‘The Monarch’, ‘And Dreams Are Dreams’, ‘The Photographs’, ‘The Plant, the Well, the Angel’, ‘The Coroner’s Assistant’, ‘The Harpoon Gun’, and ‘The Few Things I Know About Glafkos Thrassakis’. His best known work is the political novel Z (1967), which has been translated into thirty-two languages and was the basis of the award-winning film Z directed by Costa Gavras.

Vassilis Vassilikos will lecture on literature and technology, their harmonious coexistence on the internet and the traps that can undermine this coexistence. Taking his cue from the thought of Regis Debray (“the medium creates the message”) and Marshall McLuhan (“the message is the medium”) he will focus on the influence of technological developments on literature. The presentation will be in Greek.