Mermaids and Ikons: A Greek Summer

by Gwendolyn MacEwen, Rosemary Sullivan (Introduction)

The island is shy and exuberant, savage and fair, bold yet self-effacing. It is a woman in heat, a man in despair, a blonde horse at sunset, a riot of fig trees, a flaking white salt bed, an arid garden of thyme and oregano, a hundred clotheslines full of octopi hung up to dry, a warm night of fireflies and tiny shrimps with burning eyes.

In her first work of nonfiction, Mermaids and Ikons: A Greek Summer, originally published in 1978, beloved poet and novelist Gwendolyn MacEwen explores her strongly personal responses to a complex civilization. Partly written during a trip to Greece in 1971, MacEwen moves from the urban tumult of Athens to the radiant simplicity of an island in the Aegean.

In this intimate and exquisitely written travel diary, she evokes the very spirit of Greece — the exuberance of the people, the sun-drenched landscape, and the shaping power of ancient traditions and myths in modern Mediterranean life.

This edition features a new introduction by the award-winning biographer Rosemary Sullivan.

Genres: Nonfiction, Travel, Canada

120 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1978

About the author

Gwendolyn MacEwen was one of Canada's most celebrated writers publishing several stories and many works of poetry throughout her career. She was born in Toronto, Ontario on September 1, 1941 to Elsie and Alick MacEwen. As a child she attended public schools in both Toronto and Winnipeg, and when she was seventeen her first poem was published in the Canadian Forum, a journal which published the works of both new and renowned writers. At the age of eighteen she left school to pursue a full time career as a writer and at the same time opened a Toronto coffee house, "The Trojan Horse".

As a child Gwendolyn didn't get the best care from her parents. Her mother was mentally unstable, spending most of her life in institutions and her father was largely an alcoholic. However this may have been what led to her writing being so heavily focused on mythology, dreams, magic, and history. After leaving school Gwendolyn taught herself several different languages including Greek, French, Arabic and Hebrew, which she used to translate many of her poems. Her fluency in several languages is what most likely encouraged her to make references to cultures outside of Canada. Gwendolyn tended to focus on more surreal ideas in her writing and she had her own unique way of expressing them when compared to other poets from her time. A lot of her poetry involved changing the surrealism into reality by using strong imagery and often allegory. The cultures she studied often showed up in her work as part of the overall imagery and allusions to historical events were quite common.

Her volume of poems "The Shadow-Maker" won the Governor General's Award in 1969 and included many poems such as her famous "Dark Pines Under Water". During the mid eighties she was a writer in residence at the University of Western Ontario and then later the University of Toronto. Gwendolyn died in 1987 at the age of 46 from what was believed to have been health problems due to alcohol. Although she was not alive to be present, later that year her collection "Afterworlds" was awarded the Governor General's Award, making it the second time her work had won such a prestigious honour.

Reviews

[Kristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

“If then, you go among the Greeks (and you are just a little mad) - remember that everything will be demanded of you, and everything returned. Greece is a ravenous country; it’s hunger is a glorious, golden hunger for light, for freedom, for the pure worlds of spirit and of matter. It is a land that devours time, rushing ahead to keep a rendezvous with some unknown and and miraculous destiny. It is also a land that encompasses the dark night of the soul, for the price of its kind of yearning, it’s kind of passion, is high. Ecstasy is never completed without the corresponding element of tragedy; if no tragedy is apparent in a situation, it often becomes necessary to invent one. The masks work by actors in ancient Greek drama were not meant to disguise, but to reveal the inner man.”

A playfully and pleasantly naive, albeit short, travel memoir by one of Canada’s most esteemed poets and novelists.

See you in Greece.

[Nicolas Lontel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un carnet de voyage en Grèce de Gwendolyn MacEwen (ma poète canadienne préférée) aussi poétique et magnifique que le restant de son oeuvre, elle arrive toujours à avoir un regard unique sur les lieux, les personnes, à pouvoir en évoquer le maximum chaque fois. De la superposition du groupe de tricot à l'Acropole (et évidemment, la métaphore filée jusqu'à la fin où on réalise que le tricot est évidemment aussi ce travail d'écriture, d'empreinte, de création).
C'est aussi très politique, bien que toujours dans les limites de l'observation des lieux et des gens, la fin de Mycenae (The Giants) est particulièrement remarquable à ce sujet.

MacEwen ne déçoit pas dans ce journal de voyage, son regard est toujours aussi perçant, unique et arrive à évoquer et à décrire de manière si fantastique qu'on croirait être dans la scène qu'elle trace, écoutant les mêmes personnes racontant leurs histoires et leurs blagues.

[Dina Khoury · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a joy to read. Probably the most beautifully written non fiction I have read. So interesting to see one’s culture explained through a poets perception, especially when in Greece, which I am.

Thank you to my cousin Nancee who passed this book on to me.

You Greek friends will be getting it for Christmas!

[Artemis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy and fast read. I really appreciate and respect MacEwens writing. Her writing hypnotizes me and lures me into my own ways of mysticism. Although this memoir/travel writing contains very realistic vibe to it self

[Franky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous
A turn of phrase, beautifully done, felt as if I was there with Gwendolyn
I’d like to post a picture of myself standing next to a sculpture of her in Toronto

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sensual and evocative, MacEwan's storytelling draws you in to her adventures in Athens, the Peloponnese and the islands of Paros and Antiparos. She has great empathy and love for the Greek people and culture but she retains her poetic sense of the outsider. Indeed, her poetry, lightly peppered throughout, elevates the emotional level of the work. If you have experienced the places she explores you will be swept up in her deep prose. And if you've never been you will want to get on the first plane out of town. Her island tales are politely, and with some analysis , bookended by her Athens knitting experiences under the shadow of the Acropolis with women who say, I see it every day, why go there?

[Nancee Pangares · Rating 5 out of 5]

Our next trip back to Greece will be with fresh eyes, thanks to this tiny lyrical book. 🇬🇷
The Péloponnèse is calling.

[Jennifer Barclay · Rating 5 out of 5]

'The island is... a riot of fig trees, a flaking white salt bed, an arid garden of thyme and oregano, a hundred clotheslines full of octopi hung up to dry, a warm night of fireflies and tiny shrimps with burning eyes' - Mermaids and Ikons, Gwendolyn MacEwen