Cyprus Comic Con welcomes back author Vera Kartalou to its Artists’ Alley!

Vera Kartalou carries writing as a means of expression and creation. She lovespolice procedural, noir aesthetics, fantasy literature and satire. Her work has been distinguished in creative writing competitions organised by well-known publishing houses and her writings have been published in literary collections and electronic journals such as Chalice, Diavasame, 25thHour Project and 121 words.

Her first book was published in 2016 and was titled “Ο Μπάσταρδος και το μεγάλο κόλπο του Νότου” (“The Bastard and the great stunt of the North”). It is a police adventure novella with intense action and subversive heroes. It is accompanied by 8 noir illustrations by Costas Pantoulas and a world map that was illustrated by Nicos Papamichael. The sequel was published the following year titled “Ο Μπάσταρδος και το μεγάλο κόλπο του Νότου 2” (“The Bastard and the great stunt of the North 2”).

Vera has collaborated with several comic book artists as a script-writer for published works such as “Αιώνια Καταδίκη 1 & 2”, “Biography”, “12 Νοσηρές Ιστορίες” and “Ο Βρυκόλακας Θανάσης Βάγιας”, “Η φυγή”, and “Confessions”, while others such as “Σήψη”, “Batman”, “Dark Heroes”, “Μην Πας”, “Evolution is a Bitch” and “Game of Bones”, were showcased in comic book exhibitions in Athens and Thessaloniki.

Visit Vera’s website to see for more of her work.

In the last few years, she has coordinated and participated in several group exhibitions, including “Διάψευσε Το”, “The Proust Effect”, “V for Versality”, “Βρώμικες Ιστορίες της Πόλης”, “Ενός Κακού Μύρια Έπονται”, “Όπου και να ταξιδέψω η Ελλάδα με πληγώνει” and “The Next Decade(?)”.

In 2017 her and Lydia Elioglou created a literature website called “121 words” where Vera posts short stories of exactly 121 words by Greek and international authors. At the same time she started collaborating with Urnovl, an innovative online literary platform that promotes the networking of readers and writers, and is the site where the stories of “121 Words” are published.

She has attended physical theatre and direction seminars, where she took part in theatrical performances both as an actress and assistant director. In May 2015, she wrote and directed the 3D Comic Performance tiled “Πορεία στο αδιέξοδο” that was presented at Τρένο στο Ρούφ as part of the festival “Τα 12 Κουπέ”.

Lastly, she has collaborated with literary associations for the organising of events, seminars and literary competitions, as well as with the Women’s Counseling Support Center for the Municipality of Keratsini-Drapetsona for the interactive social action “Πνίξε την Βία” (“Choke the Violence”) which informed and raised public awareness of the fight against all forms of violence, as well as the Vakalo College to conduct actions that promote the art of comics in Greece.