Tom Petsinis on poetry, mathematics and playwriting

Spoken Word

Tom Petsinis is a novelist, playwright, and poet. He was born in Macedonia, Greece, and immigrated to Australia as a child. He lives in Melbourne and works as a mathematics co-ordinator at Deakin University. He has published several collections of poetry, including Sonnets: Offerings from Mount Athos, My Father’s Tools, Steles, Isolation, and Four Quarters, which won the Wesley Michel Wright Poetry Prize. His play The Drought was short-listed for the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award and won the Wal Cherry Award. His novels include The Twelfth Dialogue and The French Mathematician, nominated for both the New South Wales and South Australian Premier’s Award. His recent novels are Fitzroy Raw and Fog. The Australia Council for the Arts has awarded him a Writers’ Fellowship and a Residency at the B.R. Whiting Library in Rome. He also been a Creative Fellow at the State Library of Victoria and a writer-in-residence in Lavigny, Switzerland. Tom’s work has been translated into several languages. His latest collection of poetry is Zero's Whisper and his latest play is Zorba's Last Dance.Dimitrios Koutsoukos is an actor with a diverse range of credits. Television and film credits include Kick, Neighbours, Noah's Ark, and Crackerjack. He has appeared in numerous short films, including Bulk Bill (VCA), Apply Yourself (Art of the State) and Short Change (48 Hour Film Fest Award Winner). Beyond film and television, Dimitrios has performed in theatre productions such as The Greeks (La Mama Collaborations) and Heart Thy Neighbour (Melbourne International Comedy Festival). His training includes The Film Space, St. Kilda Acting Company, and Tony Nikolakopoulos’ Kali Techni Theatre Company. He has served as the Co-Artistic Director of the Greek Australian Short Film Festival (GASFF). Here, he reads extracts from Tom Petsinis's new play, Zorba's Last Dance, and also joins Tom Petsinis in reading poems from Zero's Whisper.Tom Petsinis's work is available here: https://scholarly.info/?s=Tom+Petsinis&post_type=productProduction and Interview: Tina Giannoukos