A Conversation with Author Sally Jane Smith - Repacking For Greece

Send us Fan MailAustralian author Sally Jane Smith is one of ninewriters recognized in the Greek-Australian Cultural League of Melbourne’s 2024 Book Awards. Her debuttravel memoir, Unpacking for Greece, was awarded First Prize in the ‘Prose in English’ category.When asked how she felt on receiving the news, Smith said, “It was staggering. I wrote the Packing forGreece series for tourists, never expecting that the philoxenia I experienced as a traveler in Greece wouldresurface in this wonderful support from Greeks around the world. To see my name listed with those of somany accomplished Greek-Australian writers is an indescribable honor.”When Smith first set out for Greece with her mother’s 1978 travel diary in her pocket, she was searchingfor the wanderlust she’d lost in a devastating overseas road accident. As she ventured into the heart of theMediterranean – wandering volatile landscapes, exploring historical sites, pairing books with places andsavoring the tastes of Greece – she found it was possible for a clumsy, out-of-shape woman on a budget toexperience a life-changing journey. This is the story that became Unpacking for Greece, published in 2023and named a ‘Reading Greece Book of the Month’ by Greek government website Greek News Agenda.Smith said that connecting with Greek readers has become the most rewarding aspect of her writing.Highlights include online book clubs and literary get-togethers with the Hellenic American Women’s Councilin Chicago, the Hellenic Cultural Society of South Florida, and the Greek Elder Care Network in New YorkCity. Smith also headlined an ‘In Conversation with the Author’ event with Lonely Planet Greece author PaulHellander in Adelaide, Australia, hosted by Festival Hellenika.“When I visited Canada recently and stumbled across the Greek International Film Festival Tour inVancouver, I was deeply moved by the welcome I received. Then in October, the Hellenic ProfessionalWomen Inc. book club got together in a Manhattan bar to discuss Unpacking for Greece. I never forget whata privilege it is to be included in events like these, and I love it when groups ask me to Zoom in to theirgatherings. As a non-Greek who owes a great deal to Greece – the country that gave me my kefi back andturned me into a writer – I feel enormous gratitude.”Smith’s second book is also garnering attention in literary circles. Repacking for Greece, published this year,was shortlisted by Australia’s Society of Women Writers NSW for a non-fiction book award. Together, thetwo-book series travels to sixteen unforgettable destinations across the Greek mainland and islands:Athens, Delphi and Meteora on the Greek mainland; Monemvasia, Sparta, Nafplio, Mycenae, Epidavrosand Methana on the Peloponnese Peninsula; and the islands of Santorini, Rhodes, Hydra, Aegina, Poros,Kefalonia and Corfu.