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The Brink of Freedom (Signature Editions $22.95)
For her second novel, The Brink of Freedom
(Signature Editions $22.95), Stella Leventoyannis Harvey travelled to Greece to better grasp the plight of refugees in the Mediterranean.
Her story concerns a young boy who goes missing from a refugee camp. After he is found with a Canadian woman who wants to help, Greek police apprehend a Roma from Ukraine on suspicion of human trafficking.
"The characters are as real to me as my neighbours and friends,"; she says, "I feel desperate when my characters make what I think are bad decisions. I hear myself shouting, please don't do that.";
Stella Leventoyannis Harvey was first struck by the mass influx of migrants into Europe when she was in Greece in 2012 finishing her first novel, Nicolai's Daughters about the Nazi occupation during World War II.
"In 2012, the economy was shrinking further, unemployment was in the double-digit zone and young Greeks in particular had few opportunities. This was also the time when I saw the rise of the far right Nazi party, Golden Dawn (Chrysà AvgÃ) and attacks by this group's followers on foreigners and the later murder of the Greek anti-fascist rapper, Pavlos Fyssas. "
Among all the countries in Europe, Greece had been cited by the European Commission as the country most tolerant and welcoming to migrants in 1989. Harvey wondered what had happened to filoxenÃa (Greek for hospitality) and how she would feel in a refugee's shoes.
Her curiosity led her to Athens where she found an apartment close to a Roma camp, later described in The Brink of Freedom. When the police tore down that camp, she could see the desperation on the faces of the people who watched their temporary shelters being destroyed.
"There was nothing I could do but watch helplessly,"; she says, "and later try to write about it.";
Harvey returned in 2014 and visited a refugee detention centre, Amygdaleza, the largest such facility in Greece. High fences were topped with razor wire; there were guard towers with armed officers at each corner. The staff spent close to two hours with her as she toured the facility. She met with doctors and other medical staff.
A week later, she read in the newspaper that a twenty-six-year-old Pakistani man died in that centre. Police had allegedly beaten him while he was in another detention centre because he was involved in a protest over the living conditions. The man had allegedly requested medical treatment. It had been denied. Harvey didn't know the man. But she wasn't able to get him out of her mind. His death made her question what she'd been told by Greek officials and it left her wondering about her own naiveté.
Next she visited the Asylum Service of the Ministry of Public Order and Citizen Protection in Athens to understand the registration process for asylum seekers. It all seemed reasonable. Then she talked to an Afghani boy who spoke perfect English. His family had been in Greece for months waiting to hear about their asylum request. He liked his school, he liked being in Greece, but he wasn't sure the government was going to let his family stay. His face became very serious. It upset her that a little boy had to worry about such things.
Visiting Syntagma Square-in an exclusive, affluent neighborhood in the heart of Athens-Harvey came across a makeshift camp in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. On cardboard boxes, blankets and plastic tarps, some 200 men, women and children stood or sat, placards in hand. A number had tape across their mouths.
This was Day 5 of a hunger strike. She found an English-speaking bear of a man with kind eyes and an open smile who was willing to share his story. Like other Syrians, he'd come through Turkey to Greece. To do so, he had been smuggled into Greece in a decrepit, rusted fishing boat. He had received refugee status but now his status was reviewed every six months to determine if it was safe for him to return home. He was in the square because he didn't have a place to live.
"Yes,"; he said, "it's true that I won't be shot in the streets here, but I'm not allowed to live either. All we want is freedom.";
Harvey came to understand that refugee status doesn't permit the migrant to find a job or gain social assistance to find a place to live. Official refugee status also doesn't enable someone to legally travel to another part of Europe.
Eventually she created her main characters Vijay, Saphal and Sanjit for The Brink of Freedom. Roma also take a leading role. Harvey spoke to those who could understand English or else her somewhat clumsy Greek. "I wanted to see through their eyes,"; she says, "to sense their plight through their hearts. More and more I came to realise that in order for me to write, I need to first feel.";
A Swedish woman raised in Greece, Maria Larsen of aid organization Children's Ark, was Harvey's guide to the Roma settlement just outside of the port city of Corinth where a paved road narrowed. The city gave way to farmland, then a decimated olive grove strewn with garbage. Maria said the farm had likely been abandoned. When the Roma moved in, they likely burned the trees, some of which were over 500 years old, to keep warm.
They entered the camp through the open gate. There were all sorts of houses, from shacks to newish-looking houses. Harvey had never seen new houses in other Roma camps. Maria said that the drug dealers in the camp likely owned them. This tidbit would give her more to explore in her novel, connecting two characters from different backgrounds.
Children's Ark donors were primarily Swedish. "The general society ostracizes the Roma,"; Maria said. "So they stick to their own, living apart from the rest of the general Greek community.";
It became increasingly clear to Harvey the extent to which both new migrants in Europe and the traditional migrants-the Roma-are frequently victims of ignorance. This research was all grist for her novel, mostly set in the Athenian neighbourhood of Ta Prosfygika.
Of Greek heritage, Harvey came to Canada as an immigrant from Egypt, where her family was living, after the Egyptian government began nationalizing foreign businesses to oust foreigners. "We weren't mistreated and my parents felt, with few exceptions, that Canadian immigration authorities treated us in a respectful way. The process was orderly. No dangerous, life-threatening crossings. No people smuggling.";
Much of Harvey's family still lives in Greece and she visits often. Part of the proceeds from The Brink of Freedom will go to the Red Cross to support their efforts to help refugees in Greece.
A social worker by training, Harvey is mainly known in B.C. as the founder/manager of the Whistler Writers Festival. 978-1927426760
(Signature Editions $22.95), Stella Leventoyannis Harvey travelled to Greece to better grasp the plight of refugees in the Mediterranean.
Her story concerns a young boy who goes missing from a refugee camp. After he is found with a Canadian woman who wants to help, Greek police apprehend a Roma from Ukraine on suspicion of human trafficking.
"The characters are as real to me as my neighbours and friends,"; she says, "I feel desperate when my characters make what I think are bad decisions. I hear myself shouting, please don't do that.";
Stella Leventoyannis Harvey was first struck by the mass influx of migrants into Europe when she was in Greece in 2012 finishing her first novel, Nicolai's Daughters about the Nazi occupation during World War II.
"In 2012, the economy was shrinking further, unemployment was in the double-digit zone and young Greeks in particular had few opportunities. This was also the time when I saw the rise of the far right Nazi party, Golden Dawn (Chrysà AvgÃ) and attacks by this group's followers on foreigners and the later murder of the Greek anti-fascist rapper, Pavlos Fyssas. "
Among all the countries in Europe, Greece had been cited by the European Commission as the country most tolerant and welcoming to migrants in 1989. Harvey wondered what had happened to filoxenÃa (Greek for hospitality) and how she would feel in a refugee's shoes.
Her curiosity led her to Athens where she found an apartment close to a Roma camp, later described in The Brink of Freedom. When the police tore down that camp, she could see the desperation on the faces of the people who watched their temporary shelters being destroyed.
"There was nothing I could do but watch helplessly,"; she says, "and later try to write about it.";
Harvey returned in 2014 and visited a refugee detention centre, Amygdaleza, the largest such facility in Greece. High fences were topped with razor wire; there were guard towers with armed officers at each corner. The staff spent close to two hours with her as she toured the facility. She met with doctors and other medical staff.
A week later, she read in the newspaper that a twenty-six-year-old Pakistani man died in that centre. Police had allegedly beaten him while he was in another detention centre because he was involved in a protest over the living conditions. The man had allegedly requested medical treatment. It had been denied. Harvey didn't know the man. But she wasn't able to get him out of her mind. His death made her question what she'd been told by Greek officials and it left her wondering about her own naiveté.
Next she visited the Asylum Service of the Ministry of Public Order and Citizen Protection in Athens to understand the registration process for asylum seekers. It all seemed reasonable. Then she talked to an Afghani boy who spoke perfect English. His family had been in Greece for months waiting to hear about their asylum request. He liked his school, he liked being in Greece, but he wasn't sure the government was going to let his family stay. His face became very serious. It upset her that a little boy had to worry about such things.
Visiting Syntagma Square-in an exclusive, affluent neighborhood in the heart of Athens-Harvey came across a makeshift camp in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. On cardboard boxes, blankets and plastic tarps, some 200 men, women and children stood or sat, placards in hand. A number had tape across their mouths.
This was Day 5 of a hunger strike. She found an English-speaking bear of a man with kind eyes and an open smile who was willing to share his story. Like other Syrians, he'd come through Turkey to Greece. To do so, he had been smuggled into Greece in a decrepit, rusted fishing boat. He had received refugee status but now his status was reviewed every six months to determine if it was safe for him to return home. He was in the square because he didn't have a place to live.
"Yes,"; he said, "it's true that I won't be shot in the streets here, but I'm not allowed to live either. All we want is freedom.";
Harvey came to understand that refugee status doesn't permit the migrant to find a job or gain social assistance to find a place to live. Official refugee status also doesn't enable someone to legally travel to another part of Europe.
Eventually she created her main characters Vijay, Saphal and Sanjit for The Brink of Freedom. Roma also take a leading role. Harvey spoke to those who could understand English or else her somewhat clumsy Greek. "I wanted to see through their eyes,"; she says, "to sense their plight through their hearts. More and more I came to realise that in order for me to write, I need to first feel.";
A Swedish woman raised in Greece, Maria Larsen of aid organization Children's Ark, was Harvey's guide to the Roma settlement just outside of the port city of Corinth where a paved road narrowed. The city gave way to farmland, then a decimated olive grove strewn with garbage. Maria said the farm had likely been abandoned. When the Roma moved in, they likely burned the trees, some of which were over 500 years old, to keep warm.
They entered the camp through the open gate. There were all sorts of houses, from shacks to newish-looking houses. Harvey had never seen new houses in other Roma camps. Maria said that the drug dealers in the camp likely owned them. This tidbit would give her more to explore in her novel, connecting two characters from different backgrounds.
Children's Ark donors were primarily Swedish. "The general society ostracizes the Roma,"; Maria said. "So they stick to their own, living apart from the rest of the general Greek community.";
It became increasingly clear to Harvey the extent to which both new migrants in Europe and the traditional migrants-the Roma-are frequently victims of ignorance. This research was all grist for her novel, mostly set in the Athenian neighbourhood of Ta Prosfygika.
Of Greek heritage, Harvey came to Canada as an immigrant from Egypt, where her family was living, after the Egyptian government began nationalizing foreign businesses to oust foreigners. "We weren't mistreated and my parents felt, with few exceptions, that Canadian immigration authorities treated us in a respectful way. The process was orderly. No dangerous, life-threatening crossings. No people smuggling.";
Much of Harvey's family still lives in Greece and she visits often. Part of the proceeds from The Brink of Freedom will go to the Red Cross to support their efforts to help refugees in Greece.
A social worker by training, Harvey is mainly known in B.C. as the founder/manager of the Whistler Writers Festival. 978-1927426760
Submitted on March 1, 2016 in By David.
