The advent of e-books has made it easier than ever to carry an entire library with you wherever you go. While there is nothing like the feel of a real book, turning page after page, engrossed in the story, e-books can be a quick and easy way to read practically any book from the convenience of an app on your smartphone, tablet, or laptop. E-readers are also available that might offer some advantages over reading on your phone such as anti-glare features for reading at the beach or poolside.

The Hellenic Cypriot Cultural Association (HCCA), a nonprofit organization based in Thessaloniki, recently announced three free e-books available on its website. The books are Sto Perivoli tis Poiesis (In the Garden of Poetry) by Dr. Gerasimos Tzivras, To Alithino Tigraki/ The Real Little Tiger by Kika Pulcheriou, and Mia Zoi Orthopetalia by Giorgos Roukas.

Dr. Tzivras, a surgeon with roots in Kefalonia, demonstrates a keen attention to detail in his thought-provoking poems and dedicated the collection to his late parents. The book includes greetings from HCCA President Sissy Sigioultzi-Rouka and an introduction by Dr. Iosif S. Iosifidis, Cyprus Writers Union President and HCCA Vice President. The book is available online: https://bit.ly/3nDeZkN.

Award-winning Cypriot writer, educator Kika Pulcheriou was honored by HCCA in 2021 with the Literary Award for her complete works, along with the Hellenic poet Antonis Fostieris. Pulcheriou’s The Real Little Tiger, available in a free, bilingual Greek-English edition, translated by Dr. Iosif S. Iosifidis, is an educational children’s book that teaches valuable lessons for youngsters. Read the e-book online any time: https://bit.ly/3Ic63wj.

Mia Zoi Orthopetalia by Giorgos Roukas follows the hero’s struggles from 1942-2002 and brings the history of those times vividly to life. The word orthopetalia refers to cycling, when the cyclist rides standing up on the bike, but metaphorically it refers to taking a step in the right direction. The book is available here: https://bit.ly/3yeKeax.

Founded in 2019, HCCA was established to create infrastructure and organization with action plans to serve the universal Hellenic Culture, common to Greece and Cyprus, to support literary and artistic creativity, language, tradition, and the sciences that enrich culture. Many collaborators, writers, artists, scientists, inside and outside Greece, responded with enthusiasm, creating a network of more than 60 contributors in 22 countries.

HCCA’s vision is the promotion of the unified Hellenic culture created by Greeks, Cypriots, and the diaspora, individually or collectively with institutions, and their awareness and participation in its preservation and enrichment as well as subsequently highlighting it in the EU and internationally. HCCA sees the support for culture (letters, arts, language, etc.) as an asset and a basis for spiritual development, for as many Greeks and Cypriots as possible, to keep the original principles and values ​​thriving.

The organization’s mission is to create an exemplary cultural identity with effective infrastructures, connections, action plans to develop programs and relationships to achieve the vision in many fields such as artistic and literary creativity, the universality of Hellenic culture, language, memory and tradition, and the related sciences.

More information is available online: https://cultural-association.org.

It should be noted that the deadline has been extended until July 20 for the 5th Poetry and Prose Reflections Contest, titled “I Will Never Forget You Ionia, O Smyrna Always a Pearl,” organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs – General Secretariat of Hellenism Abroad and Public Diplomacy in collaboration with HCCA. Further details are available online: https://bit.ly/3NCYvnm.