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# Apollo Papafrangou, Author

Greek American author of novels, short stories, and poems

## Sitemaps

- [XML Sitemap](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/sitemap.xml): Contains all public & indexable URLs for this website.

## Posts

- [Musings](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/musings/)
- [There’s still a There Here](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/2015/06/01/theres-still-a-there-here/) - Yesterday was the first annual Oakland Book Festival downtown at Frank Ogawa Plaza. Amid green grass and the towering, Colonial Lego stack that is city hall, booths were set up for book sellers and authors to showcase their literary triumphs. The crowd was quintessentially Oakland: a mix of cultures and colors; revolutionaries and readers trading
- [Musings on Memphis](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/2015/06/08/musings-on-memphis/) - The other night, winding down after a day of writing, editing, and a completing a job interview, I watched this movie “Memphis.” In one of those cosmic instances where a piece of art perfectly syncs with your mood, the sentiments of this film struck deep in my chest like the reverberations of an amplified guitar
- [In Praise of Gratitude: Four Things I’m Grateful For](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/2015/11/20/in-praise-of-gratitude-four-things-im-grateful-for/) - In Praise of Gratitude: Four Things I’m Grateful For
- [Lines that Blur: Color, Race, and That Time I Published a Book at Age Fifteen](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/2015/06/15/lines-that-blur-color-race-and-that-time-i-published-a-book-at-age-fifteen/) - Initially, I had a different post in mind this week; something about my fear of flying as it’s travel season and the theme figures prominently in my forthcoming novel, “Wings of Wax.” Then the Rachel Dolezal controversy hit the net, and my flight plan changed. As you undoubtedly already know, it came out last week
- [Winging It: Skies of Angst?](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/2015/06/22/winging-it-skies-of-angst/) - Summer’s upon us. Sunny weather, the skies cloudless most days (unless you live in San Francisco, I suppose) seem friendly, and what do you do with friendly skies? You fly them, of course. Unless you’re me. How friendly is cramming into an aluminum tube among hundreds of other angsty, temperamental travelers? This year I’m saving
- [This Feeling: On love, romance, and Greek Myth](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/2015/06/29/this-feeling-on-love-romance-and-greek-myth/) - In his Symposium, Plato declares that according to Greek Mythology humans originally boasted four arms and four legs, their bodies driven by the beat of two hearts. Zeus was afraid of being overthrown by humans, and so he split them down the middle, leaving them to spend a life time searching for their other halves.
- [On Saying “Oxi!”](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/2015/07/06/on-saying-oxi/) - When I was a boy, my father, an immigrant from Greece, spoke often and fondly of the homeland. He talked of the sun, the sea; the ancient lands of Homer, Achilles, Agamemnon. Just as often, he spoke of a childhood eating morsels of bread served in bowls of powdered milk, and of days with his
- [From the Archives: Ermioni, Greece… My Ancestral Home, Your Next Vacation Spot](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/2015/07/13/from-the-archives-ermioni-greece-my-ancestral-home-your-next-vacation-spot/) - In a show of solidarity with the people of Greece, I’m reaching into the archives this week to re-share a past post profiling the town from which the majority of my relatives hail, Ermioni. You can stage a coup using currency as a weapon, force the sale of our assets, but you can’t take our
- [Mid-Summer Musings: On Work, Fun, Booktrope, and Seattle.](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/2015/07/10/mid-summer-musings-on-work-fun-booktrope-and-seattle/) - The past couple weeks have been busy with writing, editing, blogging, landing a new day job, social media-ing, and the like. Oh, for the carefree summers of childhood: long days spent chasing ice cream trucks, hitting up amusement parks, chillaxing with friends by the pool. I didn’t even get over to the Alameda County Fair
- [Moments that Shimmer: On Seattle vacation, Booktrope, Friends, Love and Bone Marrow!](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/2015/08/03/moments-that-shimmer-on-seattle-vacation-booktrope-friends-love-and-bone-marrow/) - As I write this late Friday afternoon, the last day of July, I reflect on how a week earlier Katie and I were enjoying the sights and sounds of Seattle, Washington in all its emerald splendor. We’d spent the morning braving the crowds amid the hustle-and-bustle of Pike Place Market before enjoying breakfast at Le
- [Hungry Like the Lekos](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/2015/08/10/hungry-like-the-lekos/) - Thinking about this week’s blog made whet my appetite. Even before I’d decided on a topic, I associated the writing of this article with hunger for some reason. Perhaps I skipped lunch, you say? Well, that’s probably part of it, but I suspect more. It seems my subconscious has been telling me that a blog
- [The Greek Golden Rule of Hospitality](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/2015/08/17/the-greek-golden-rule-of-hospitality/) - In Greek the word “philo” means friend, though it can also mean to “cherish” or to “love,” as in “philosophy” (the love of wisdom), or “Philadelphia” (love between brothers). Timo or τιμη in Greek, means honor. So, one might assume that the wondrous Greek word φιλοτιμο (philotimo) simply translates to “love of honor.” Ah, but
- [You Greek Olive! Delicious insults, immigrant households, and culture gaps](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/2015/08/24/you-greek-olive-delicious-insults-immigrant-households-and-culture-gaps/) - He’s done something to make me mad–exactly what I don’t recall, though the affront occurred only moments ago, so caught up in my anger that details quickly lose importance. All that matters is that I’m angry now, mad enough to stomp my little foot, clench my tiny fists, curl my lip back in a snarl.
- [Papa-Who? On Greek Surnames, School, and Roll Call](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/2015/08/31/papa-who-on-greek-surnames-school-and-roll-call/) - Ah, it’s that time of year again. Kids return to school, as do teachers and tutors. We have all been there, no matter whether we inhabit the role of instructor or student: early September, shuffling into a classroom different from the one we left behind back in June, greeting familiar faces and introducing ourselves to
- [Plight of the Greek Fishermen](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/2015/09/14/plight-of-the-greek-fishermen/) - It’s an iconic image, that of the classic Greek fisherman: burly son of Poseidon, heir to the sea God’s kingdom; eyes fierce beneath his crown in the form of a sturdy-brimmed cap, grasp wielding not a trident but a net cast into the indigo depths of the Aegean. Many a postcard features images of these
- [Crossed Signals: On Being Bilingual, and the Bloopers of a GreekAmerican Boy in Greece](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/2015/09/21/crossed-signals-on-being-bilingual-and-the-bloopers-of-a-greekamerican-boy-in-greece/) - The lessons were informal, though they served as instruction nonetheless. Reminiscing now, I realize that in all likelihood they served as fodder for those early childhood outbursts when I deemed my father a “Greek olive,” a delicious insult in my young mind (those of you who read my previous blog exploring the origins of that
- [Room For One More](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/2015/10/05/room-for-one-more/) - Digging into the archives for this post on the importance of community and friendship. Seems appropriate after we all, hopefully, enjoyed a nice weekend with people we care about. Let’s enjoy a beverage together. You are my guest, my friend. Follow me into the banquet room of polished hardwood floors and high ceilings, and tall
- [The official Wings of Wax cover is here!!!](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/2015/10/12/the-official-wings-of-wax-cover-is-here/) - Hey friends, I’m so excited to share with you the official cover for my novel coming soon from Booktrope, Wings of Wax. The immensely talented designer Shari Ryan created this concept, a vision of a drawing table belonging to the story’s aspiring artist of a protagonist, Angelo Koutouvalis. The “sketch” of the Bay Bridge behind
- [Being Icarus: On Halloween, Book Releases, and GreekMyth](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/2015/10/20/being-icarus-on-halloween-book-releases-and-greekmyth/) - I’ve got my wings, the apparatuses fitted to my back with wax, and I’m armed with the wise advice to avoid soaring close to the sun. And still I lose momentum, unable to resist the gravitational pull, my biggest danger not that glowing orb in the sky but the firm ground below it. I can’t
- [A Greek Bearing Gifts: On Kindness, Homeric Epics, and Culture](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/2015/10/26/a-greek-bearing-gifts-on-kindness-homeric-epics-and-culture/) - “Beware of Greeks bearing gifts,” a phrase once commonly heard amid the every day lexicon of collective American vocabulary dates back to a time when just about everyone read and studied the classics. The quote is, of course, a reference to Homer’s Iliad, and the Greek army who hid themselves within a giant wooden horse
- [A Legend of Four Sisters: Memories of Greek Matriarchs…](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/2015/11/09/a-legend-of-four-sisters-memories-of-greek-matriarchs/) - The tale of four sisters: Catherine (my maternal grandmother) Mary, Iphiyenia, and Caroline. A beautiful quartet who immigrated to America from Greece.
- [March Madness: On My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 and New Novel Release Date](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/2015/11/12/march-madness-on-my-big-fat-greek-wedding-2-and-new-novel-release-date/) - People Change. Greeks don’t. That’s one of the statements flashing across the screen in oh-so-appropriate blue letters across a white background during the My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 trailer which, at the time of this posting, I’ve watched upwards of a half-dozen times. As brief as the proclamation is during the two-minute preview, it
- [Snowy Crowned Royalty: On Eldery Wisdom](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/2015/12/07/snowy-crowned-royalty-on-eldery-wisdom/) - Circa 1984. As the story goes, my yiayia arrived to pick me up from pre-school one afternoon and I paused in my romping atop the play structure to reassure a young friend, in reference to the approach of my grandmother, that “she’s old, but she’s nice.” For years afterward, Yiayia told the tale with a
- [Won’t You Stay Forever? On Long Lost Relatives, Greek Village Life, and Flashfiction](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/2015/11/02/wont-you-stay-forever-on-long-lost-relatives-greek-village-life-and-flashfiction/) - Last week’s blog on kindness and hospitality in the Greek culture–from the time of Homer, in which Odysseus often relied on the generosity of strangers to find his way home, to modern day Greece where natives welcome both tourists and refugees with the same open-heartedness—got me thinking about a particular adventure I had with my
- [Art as Life: On Arts Education & Smelly Markers](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/2015/12/14/art-as-life-on-arts-education-smelly-markers/) - Imagine, if you will, a baby crawling up a mountainous flight of steps, one little knee at a time, slapping the surface of each stair in announcement of his progress. His ascent is inspired not by the promise of toy or treat, but by a desire to view up close the spectrum of colors and
- [Silver Bells: On Gratitude, Christmas Music & GreekAmerican Traditions](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/2015/12/21/silver-bells-on-gratitude-christmas-music-greekamerican-traditions/) - Silver Bells: On Gratitude, Christmas Music & GreekAmerican Traditions - my take on the holidays, and reflect on all I have to be grateful for.
- [A Greek-American Dream by Guest Author Steve Karas ](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/2016/02/08/a-greek-american-dream-by-guest-author-steve-karas/) - Welcome friend and fellow Greek-American writer Steve Karas. A Chicago native, Karas is the author of the short story collection Kinda Sorta American Dream.
- [There’s a Coin in my Cake! On Greek New Years & Luck](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/2016/01/04/theres-a-coin-in-my-cake-on-greek-new-years-luck/) - Happy New Year! Kalee Chronia! After two weeks of holiday celebration, work begins anew with the first blog post of 2016. In looking forward, into January and the months beyond while preparing for the March release of my novel Wings of Wax, I can’t help but also gaze back to past New Year’s Days. In
- [May We Get There With You: On Oakland, MLK, and Greek Allies](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/2016/01/19/may-we-get-there-with-you-on-oakland-mlk-and-greek-allies/) - Often coined with this term, the Oakland, California of my childhood in the 1980’s was--like Detroit, Atlanta, Washington, DC, and other metropolitan centers with a black-majority populace--a city in which African-American culture held prominent influence.
- [Taking Flight: On Wings of Wax](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/2016/02/16/taking-flight-on-wings-of-wax/) - The Greek is coming… Wings of Wax by Apollo Papafrangou will be hitting books sellers on March 10th from Booktrope. Read more about this novel release!
- [Inhale, Exhale: On Mindfulness, Ancient Greece, & The Now](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/2016/01/11/inhale-exhale-on-mindfulness-ancient-greece-the-now/) - Inhale, Exhale: On Mindfulness, Ancient Greece, & The Now ”You must plunge beneath your crowded thoughts and calmly contemplate the higher realities with pure, focused attention. If you do this, a state of inspired serenity will remain with you throughout your life, shaping your character and benefiting you in so many ways. Empedoclesancient Greek sage. Though we generally, and rightfully it seems, attribute the

## Pages

- [Home](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/) - Apollo Papafrangou is the Greek-American Oakland-based author of the acclaimed novels We Grew Here (Nomadic/Black Lawrence Press, 2021) and Wings of Wax (Olive Leaf Editions, 2016).
- [About](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/about/) - Learn more about Greek-American author Apollo Papafrangou. Apollo is the author of the acclaimed novels Wings of Wax and We Grew Here.
- [Praise & Accolades](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/praise/) - Praise & Accolades for Apollo Papafrangou, Oakland-born author of We Grew Here, Wings of Wax, and The Fence.
- [Privacy Policy](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/privacy-policy/) - Who we are Our website address is: https://apollopapafrangou.com Comments When visitors leave comments on the site we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection. An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided
- [We Grew Here](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/we-grew-here/) - We Grew Here From the depths of Oakland’s rocky soil, fertile ground once rich with soul and prowled b Panthers, comes this defiant mantra of rhyme and reason. In the interconnected stories comprising We Grew Here, one journeys through the deep-rooted, divers communities of this colorful Bayside city of trendsetters and go-getters. Amid the timely
- [The Fence](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/the-fence/) - The Fence, by Apollo Papafrangou. The Fence In the near future, and after many thousands of years of hate, racism, religious and ethnic persecution, bloody conquests, inequality, exploitation and war, the world’s people are finally beginning to come together, most realizing that none will truly be free until everyone is. There is peace in the Middle-east; most countries have abolished
- [Interview](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/interview/) - The Writing Life interviews Greek author Apollo Papafrangou.
- [Contact](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/contact/) - Contact author Apollo Papafrangou.
- [Wings of Wax](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/wings-of-wax/) - Wings of Wax is the story of aspiring Illustrator Angelo Koutouvalis searching for the picture-perfect life he desires within the Bay Area Greek community.

## Testimonials

- [Effie Kammenou](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/testimonial/effie-kammenou/) - In ‘the coming of age’ novel Wings of Wax, Papafrangou expresses, through detailed character development and description, the beauty of Angelo’s psychological journey, as well as his physical one through Greece; the land of his heritage. An enjoyable book full of life and comic relief.
- [Steve Karas](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/testimonial/steve-karas/) - With poetic and passionate prose, Apollo Papafrangou takes us on a universal, coming-of-age journey that stretches from America’s Pacific Coast to a tiny beachside village in Greece. Wings of Wax is a deeply moving and entertaining story about a father and son and the sea that divides them. Papafrangou perfectly captures the loneliness, confusion, and
- [Marjory McGinn](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/testimonial/marjory-mcginn/) - A beautifully written book with an endearing narrator who flies us into the vortex of Greekness, first in America and then in crisis–ridden Greece. A candid story that tackles identity, kinship and love, and full of good humor: sharp-witted relatives, and smooth operators with worry beads. This could be the hot ‘Greek’ novel of the
- [James Cagney](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/testimonial/76/) - The stories in We Grew Here comprise a vibrant mosaic of Oakland, all grounded through the lens of the Greek immigrant community. Apollo Papafrangou is an energetic and observant writer who creates passionate characters out here working and hustling their art. This is a love letter to The Town, its people, its history, heart, and
- [Natalie Bakopoulos](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/testimonial/natalie-bakopoulos/) - We Grew Here thoughtfully engages questions of authenticity, identity, race, gentrification, and what it means to make a life. Through art, through work, through love and frienships and local community, these vivid characters are not only searching but also learning the art of being and belonging. There’s a tender masculinity here, both funny and poignant,
- [Susan Straight](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/testimonial/susan-straight/) - We Grew Here is a sly, quirky, and entertaining journey through a cool Oakland landscape of strivers and dreamers.

## Categories

- [Musings](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/category/post/)

## Tags

- [general](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/tag/general/)
- [Greek](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/tag/greek/)
- [Greek American](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/tag/greekamerican/)
- [Meditation](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/tag/meditation/)
- [Mindfullness](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/tag/mindfullness/)
- [Art](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/tag/art/)
- [author](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/tag/author/)
- [Book release](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/tag/book-release/)
- [Books](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/tag/books/)
- [fiction](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/tag/fiction/)
- [literature](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/tag/literature/)
- [Oakland](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/tag/oakland/)
- [reading](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/tag/reading/)
- [writer](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/tag/writer/)
- [Chicago](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/tag/chicago/)
- [parents](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/tag/parents/)
- [short stories](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/tag/short-stories/)
- [African American](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/tag/african-american/)
- [Martin Luther King Jr. Day](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/tag/martin-luther-king-jr-day/)
- [childhood](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/tag/childhood/)
- [culture](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/tag/culture/)
- [family](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/tag/family/)
- [New Years](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/tag/new-years/)
- [friends](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/tag/friends/)
- [life](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/tag/life/)
- [Greek Mythology](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/tag/greek-mythology/)
- [kindess](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/tag/kindess/)
- [flight](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/tag/flight/)
- [Halloween](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/tag/halloween/)
- [community](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/tag/community/)
- [friendship](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/tag/friendship/)
- [Booktrope](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/tag/booktrope/)
- [immigrant](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/tag/immigrant/)
- [language](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/tag/language/)
- [learning](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/tag/learning/)
- [household](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/tag/household/)
- [traditions](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/tag/traditions/)
- [Greek Food](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/tag/greek-food/)
- [Seattle](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/tag/seattle/)
- [Vacation](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/tag/vacation/)
- [Love](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/tag/love/)
- [home](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/tag/home/)
- [Greece](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/tag/greece/)
- [solidarity](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/tag/solidarity/)
- [ThisIsACoup](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/tag/thisisacoup/)
- [resilience](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/tag/resilience/)
- [referendum](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/tag/referendum/)
- [Travel](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/tag/travel/)

## Testimonial Categories

- [We Grew Here](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/testimonial-category/we-grew-here/)
- [Wings of Wax](https://www.apollopapafrangou.com/testimonial-category/wings-of-wax/)