Lesvos, 2015–2026: What Has Europe Learned?
A presentation of A Greek Tragedy by Jeanne Carstensen, followed by a discussion with RSA (Refugee Support Aegean)
Award-winning American journalist Jeanne Carstensen will present A Greek Tragedy: One Day, a Deadly Shipwreck, and the Human Cost of the Refugee Crisis at an event hosted by RSA (Refugee Support Aegean) in Mytilene on Friday, October 30, 2026.
The book won the 2026 Northern California Book Award for General Nonfiction and the Silver Medal in Nonfiction at the California Book Awards, a literary programme established in 1931 whose previous honourees include John Steinbeck, Joan Didion and Amy Tan. It was also a finalist for the PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Carstensen’s journalism has appeared in The New York Times, The Nation and Foreign Policy, and her reporting on the refugee crisis received support through three Pulitzer Center grants.
Held two days after the eleventh anniversary of the October 28, 2015 shipwreck off Molyvos, the event will begin with a visual presentation drawing on nearly a decade of research. Carstensen will discuss how she located survivors and brought their accounts together with those of rescuers, fishermen and island residents to reconstruct the disaster.
Currently published only in a U.S. edition, this appearance offers Greek audiences a rare opportunity to engage directly with its author and gain insight into the reporting behind the work.
A conversation with RSA’s Natassa Strachini (lawyer and coordinator of the RSA team and legal team) and Efi Latsoudi (social scientist) will follow, examining developments in the eastern Aegean since 2015, refugee protection, and the role of local communities and civil society. Following the recent deadly shipwrecks off Lesvos and Samos, this discussion is more timely than ever. The programme will conclude with questions and discussion with the audience.
Friday, October 30, 2026 | 18.30
Neoclassical House, 17 James Aristarchou Street, Mytilene
The event takes place with the kind hospitality of PRO ASYL.
Interpretation between Greek and English will be provided.
