Angelo Loukakis is an Australian author. He was born in Australia, attended Fort Street High School, studied English Literature at the University of New South Wales, and acquired a Dip. Ed. from Sydney Teachers College and a Doctorate in Creative Arts from the University of Technology, Sydney. He has worked as a teacher, editor, publisher and scriptwriter. Angelo Loukakis is the author of three novels: Messenger, The Memory of Tides, and Houdini's Flight; two collections of short stories, as well as non-fiction work, such as a children's book on Greeks in Australia, a book on ancestry based on the Australian version of the television series Who Do You Think You Are?

Who Do You Think You Are? (Australian TV series)

Who Do You Think You Are? is an Australian television documentary series, based on the BBC series of the same name, airing on SBS One. SBS first aired six episodes of the BBC series in late 2007, followed by six Australian episodes beginning 13 January 2008, and then six more from the original BBC...

 and a travel book on Norfolk Island

Norfolk Island

Norfolk Island is a small island in the Pacific Ocean located between Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia. The island is part of the Commonwealth of Australia, but it enjoys a large degree of self-governance...

.

Angelo’s parents came from the island of Crete

Crete

Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...

, Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

 and his novel, The Memory of Tides, which has as a backdrop the Battle of Crete

Battle of Crete

The Battle of Crete was a battle during World War II on the Greek island of Crete. It began on the morning of 20 May 1941, when Nazi Germany launched an airborne invasion of Crete under the code-name Unternehmen Merkur...

, honours their generation. Of that novel he has said:

I wanted to show the extraordinary and positive relationships that were formed between Greeks and Aussies at a time of profound crisis. There were many instances of cross-cultural revelation during the Greek campaign. For humble, frightened village people an awakening and relief—they could scarcely believe that complete strangers would come from across the world to try to protect them from the Nazi tyrants. For Aussie boys, an awareness of a culture that had given birth to the very things they were fighting for—freedom and democracy.

His collection of short stories For the Patriarch received a prize in the 1981 NSW Premier's Awards and was set on the NSW HSC syllabus between 1986 and 2001. In 1980 his film, Dancing, was awarded a prize at the Melbourne Film Festival.

Angelo is the Executive Director of the Australian Society of Authors (2010).

External links

• Angelo Loukakis at http://www.austlit.edu.au/run?ex=ShowAgent&agentId=A(9l
• Angelo Loukakis: The Memory of Tides (reviews) at http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,20398442-5001123,00.html.
• Review of The Memory of Tides by Liam Davison at http://www.travel-to-crete.com/page.php?page_id=486
• Review of Houdini's Flight by Peter Pierce at http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/books/houdinis-flight-20100618-ym5g.html