Dimosthenis Papamarkos Gjak review and information of the historic novel by the Greek writer about the aftermath of the Greco-Turkish War. Pereine Press will publish the English translation of the novel Gkiak, written by Dimosthenis Papamarkos, author and historian from Greece on October 27, 2026. Here you can read information about the content of the book, the author and the publication.
Dimosthenis Papamarkos Gjak reviews and information
Whenever a review of Gjak, the novel by Dimosthenis Papamarkos, the Greek author, appears in the media, we’ll highlight it on this page.
- “What a brilliant little book…The nine bruising, bloodstained monologues of Gjak – already acknowledged as a modern masterwork of fiction in Greece – surely must, in this magnetically authentic and colloquial translation, be read and honoured far more widely. I can’t remember the last time I wished greater success for a book. For its enduring relevance. For its unnerving blend of tenderness and brutality. For its rueful and unflinching honesty. For simply being unignorable. It ought to be on the front table of every bookstore.” (Jim Crace, author)
- “Whether it’s thanks to critical acclaim or simply word of mouth – either way, everyone’s talking about Gjak.” (Marilena Astrapellou, The Tribune)
- “That it is a masterpiece seems undeniable to me. It is bold, often shocking, and always intimate. Not since I first read Pedro Paramo have I encountered a book that was in such close contact with the ineffable.” (Kevin Powers)
Gjak
- Author: Dimosthenis Papamarkos (Greece)
- Book type: Greek historical novel
- Original: Gkiak
- English translation: Siân Valvis
- Publisher: Peirene Press
- To be released: October 27, 2026
- Length: 148 pages
- Format: paperback
- Prize: £ 12.99
- Buying options >
Blurb of the novel by the Greek writer Dimosthenis Papamarkos
Greece, a hundred years ago: in the aftermath of the Greco-Turkish War, young men return from the battlefield, forever changed by what they have seen and done. They come home seeking revenge or forgiveness; all of them grieving. They might have survived the war, but peace does not come easily. The men are marked. These are their stories.
Hailed as the most important Greek novel of the twenty-first century, Gjak unfolds in an unnamed Arvanite village – a closed rural community governed by its own codes of honour. Binding each soldier’s story is the red thread of gjak itself: an Arvanitic word meaning blood, bloodline, blood feud, and nation. With this thread, these interconnected tales are woven into one powerful, haunting portrait of a world in violent transition.
Dimosthenis Papamarkos was born in 1983 in Malessina, Greece. Widely regarded as one of the main voices of his generation, Papamarkos has published novels, short fiction, plays, screenplays, poetry and graphic novels. As artist in residence at the Onassis Foundation in 2020, he wrote the play Στον Κόρακα (A Murder of Crows). Gjak received the prestigious Academy of Athens award, among others, and has been successfully adapted for the stage by three of Greece’s most prominent theatre companies.
