Travel Writers in Greece: from the 1940s to the Present

How have British and American writers portrayed their travels in Greece, and why? Professor Gonda Van Steen, editor of The Battle for Bodies, Hearts and Minds in Postwar Greece (Routledge, 2024), introduces the previously unpublished memoir of American social worker Charles Schermerhorn about his life and work in Thessaloniki between 1946 and 1951. Peter Barber, author of A Parthenon on our Roof (2022), presents his recently published travel memoirs. Dr David Wills discusses how travel writing about Greece has evolved over recent decades and considers its future. Three short presentations will be followed by a round-table discussion. 

Image by Victoria Wills

Gonda Van Steen
Professor Gonda Van Steen is Koraes Chair of Modern Greek and Byzantine History, Language and Literature at King’s College London.

Dr David Wills
Dr David Wills has published extensively about travel literature and is the author of The Mirror of Antiquity: 20th Century British Travellers in Greece (2007).

Peter Barber
Peter Barber’s life and marriage in Greece inspired the award-winning A Parthenon on our Roof (2022), together with its sequels, A Parthenon in Pefki and Musings from a Greek Village (both 2023).