AustLit

Originally from Cyprus, Theodore Xenophou has lived for many years in Adelaide.

In the foreword to Mountain in the Sky, Xenophou writes : 'In 1939 at the age of eight my school teacher asked me, together with the rest of the class, to go outside the school and in the misty and foggy morning to write a short story. I was admonished and punished by my teacher for allegedly copying my short story from a book, but after two more short stories the same day, the teacher realised that I could write. At the age of fourteen I started writing for a newspaper and at the same time wrote and published my first book, at the age of fifteen wrote two more books that were serialised in my own monthly magazine, at the age of sixteen I wrote on more book that was never published, a 24-page poem and a theatrical play. At the age of seventeen I wrote and published my most successful book. Circumstances beyond my control forced me to leave my poor and strife-torn island of Cyprus, to eventually settle in Australia.'