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Corfu Writers and Artists
Corfu writers and artists inspired by the island include both residents and visitors, like Gerald and Lawrence Durrell, Edward Lear, and Henry Miller.
'It's always good to find a reason for visiting Corfu Town,' says the British author Emma Tennant in her 2004 book Corfu Banquet. Subtitled ‘A Memoir with Seasonal Recipes’, this is one of two books she has written about the island.
Emma Tennant
Tennant, who was better known in Britain as the author of such novels as The Bad Sister and Wild Nights, has also written the non-fiction A House in Corfu (2001). This tells the story of her parents seeing a house in Corfu in the 1960s, a place called Rovinia, and falling in love with it and moving in. Emma Tennant shared their love of the island, showing the inspiration that Corfu has given to writers and artists over the centuries.
Lawrence and Gerald Durrell
The most famous of all of these, partly because there were two of them, were the brothers Gerald and Lawrence Durrell. Lawrence was the elder brother and appears as the butt of many jokes in Gerald's account of his 1930s boyhood on Corfu, My Family and Other Animals.
It was on Corfu that Gerald Durrell’s great love of natural history blossomed, resulting in him pursuing a career as both a naturalist and a writer, and becoming the founder of the Jersey Wildlife Conservation Trust. It’s no exaggeration to say that there are species of birds and animals surviving today which would not have made it if not for Durrell's pioneering work, spurred on by his curiosity about, and love of, the wildlife on Corfu.
Lawrence Durrell was always the more intellectual of the two brothers and went on to great success as a novelist, poet, essayist, critic, and travel writer. He lived for a time at the White House in Kalámi, which is still there today and is where he wrote Prospero's Cell. This was his own account of life on Corfu - very different from his younger brother's! - as well as working on his novels and poems.
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Henry Miller
A friend of Lawrence Durrell's was the American writer, Henry Miller, renowned as the author of such controversial books as Tropic of Cancer. He visited Durrell on Corfu, and part of this account appears in his wonderful travel memoir The Colossus of Maroussi. Many readers think that, despite the renown of his infamous novels, this is his best book, fired as he was by his love of the passionate Greek people.
Edward Lear
The English artist and writer Edward Lear was yet another whose work was coloured by his reactions to Corfu. Well-known to generations of British children, and adults, as the author of nonsense poems such as ‘The Owl and the Pussycat’, Lear also wrote several travel books and visited Corfu on many occasions. His restful landscapes are in complete contrast to his bizarre and funny verse, and some of his Corfu paintings can be seen in Corfu Town's Municipal Art Gallery, contained within the Palace of St Michael and St George.
Icon Painters
It is not only foreign visitors, of course, who have been inspired by Corfu – by its beauty, its myths, its history. A great many Greek icon painters have lived and worked on Corfu, including many from the famous Cretan School, often on their way to Venice.
There was sufficient of a local movement to encourage the formation of an Ionian School of Painting too, probably by Panayiótis Doxáras. Doxáras was born on the Greek mainland but worked in several of the Ionian Islands, including Corfu, where he painted the roof of the church of St Spyridon in Corfu Town.
Some Cool Corfu Souvenirs
Paleokastritsa Luggage Tag
Corfu Cypresses Capri Leggings
Corfu T-shirt
Corfu Tote Bag
Pávlos Prosaléntis
Corfu has produced great sculptors too, notably Pávlos Prosaléntis, who was born on Corfu in 1784 and is considered one of the greatest of Greek sculptors. A room devoted to his work, including some paintings, can be found in the Palaiópolis Museum in Mon Repos.
Corfu Writers and Artists
From Homer, who used Corfu as the inspiration for the mythical island of Scheria in The Odyssey, and Shakespeare, whose island setting of The Tempest has also been linked to Corfu, through to modern writers and artists, this beautiful Ionian island inspires more than just the holidaymakers who flock here.
Other Corfu Pages
Where to Stay in Southern Corfu
Greece Travel Secrets’ pick of where to stay in southern Corfu including hotels in Moraïtika, Paramonas, Messonghi, Agios Georgios, and near Benitses.
Where to Stay in Northern Corfu
Greece Travel Secrets picks where to stay in northern Corfu with budget and luxury hotels in Sidari, Daphnila Bay, Kontokali, Ipsos, Barbati and more.
Where to Stay in North-West and Central Corfu
Greece Travel Secrets recommends where to stay in north-west and central Corfu including luxury mansions, inexpensive rooms, and resort hotels.
Where to Eat in Northern Corfu
This is the Greece Travel Secrets selection of where to eat in northern Corfu, from classy restaurants and traditional tavernas to beachside fish tavernas.
Where to Eat in North-West Corfu
Greece Travel Secrets has its list of favourite places where you can eat in north-west Corfu, including in Paleokastritsa, Pelekas, and Ayios Stefanos.
Visiting Albania from Corfu
Donna Dailey of Greece Travel Secrets visits Albania by boat from Corfu Town, staying overnight and seeing archaeological sites with Sipa Tours.
Two Corfu Saints
The main two Corfu saints are Saint Spyridon, the patron saint of Corfu who saved the island four times from disaster, and Saint Theodora Augusta.
The Invasion of Corfu
From Nero to Nicolas Cage, the invasion of Corfu goes back to Roman times and through to Hollywood today!
The Corfu Trail
The Corfu Trail runs from the southernmost point of Corfu at Cape Asprokavos and winds for 220km (137 miles) to the northernmost point near Andinioti Lagoon.
The Achilleion Palace
The Achilleion Palace is one of the most visited sights on Corfu and contains a museum and impressive gardens with wonderful views over the coast.
Southern Corfu
Southern Corfu has busy beach resorts like Benitses, historical buildings like the Achilleion Palace and Gardiki Castle, and wildlife at the Korision Lagoon.
Southern Corfu Drive
This Southern Corfu drive starts and ends in Moraïtika, taking in hill villages, secluded beaches, lovely views, and a visit to Gardiki Castle.
Southern Corfu Beaches and Villages
This guide to southern Corfu’s beaches and villages includes busy resorts, quiet beach, hill villages and the southernmost tip of Corfu at Cape Asprókavos.
Sidari
Sidari is a popular holiday resort on the north coast of Corfu with beaches and unusual rock formations as well as plenty of places to eat and to stay.
Paleokastritsa, Corfu
Paleokastritsa is on the west coast of Corfu and is one of the most popular holiday spots. This page gives information on beaches, boat trips, weather and map.
Northern Corfu
Northern Corfu is the most diverse part of the island, with Corfu's highest point, Mt Pantokrator, and beach resorts like Sidari and Palaiokastritsa.
Northern Corfu in Three Days
If you want to tour northern Corfu in three days you can see busy resorts, quiet fishing villages, Mount Pantokrator, and the Andinioti Lagoon.
Northern Corfu Drive
There are two sides to every Greek island, the tourist and the traditional, and this drive from Corfu Town through northern Corfu shows the two faces of Corfu.
Northern Corfu Beaches and Villages
Northern Corfu’s beaches and villages include busy resorts and secluded beaches, with several hill and mountain villages well worth visiting.
North-West Corfu Beaches and Villages
North-West Corfu’s beaches and villages include busy resorts, quiet beaches, hill villages, and places ideal for watching the sunset,
Mount Pantokrátor
Mount Pantokrator is the highest mountain on Corfu and it’s easy to drive to the top for spectacular views of Albania, Corfu, and even sometimes to Italy.
Mount Pantokrator Drive
This Mount Pantokrator drive takes you to the top of Corfu’s highest mountain with wonderful views to Albania, mainland Greece, and around Corfu.
Korission Lagoon
The Korission Lagoon on the west coast of Corfu is also called Lake Korission and has abundant wildlife, especially birds, and one of the best beaches on Corfu.
Kassiopi
Kassiopi is a popular tourist resort on the northeast coast of Corfu with a sandy beach, Byzantine fortress, old church, and lots of places to stay and to eat.
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