It has been two years since Alexandros Kotzias left us, and the void created by his irrational loss is becoming deeper. We feel it with sorrow, we who had the honor to publish his entire prose work and always saw in his face not only one of the most important writers of our country, but also an invaluable friend, who never ceased to inspire us with his humble human presence.

That is why, after the posthumous publication of the novel "To Sokaki", with which this work was finally completed, we felt the need to prepare a tribute for the man and his work - a small token of gratitude for everything he generously offered us, in the thirty-one years of uninterrupted and fruitful collaboration with "Kedros". Our idea met with the initiative of Spyros Tsaknias to gather in one volume studies, essays, and testimonies that would shed light on the personality and work of Kotzias.

Thus, this edition was born, which we hope will promote further study of this dense and demanding work and will serve as a catalyst for future research, as we believe that the human comedy of the creator of "Poliorchis" and "Antipoiiseos Archis" has not yet been explored to the extent it deserves. [...]

We warmly thank Spyros Tsaknias for gathering and organizing the material, Aikaterini Makrinikola for the care of the volume, and all the collaborators who eagerly responded to our invitation, as well as those who helped in the realization of this volume.

Katia Lembesi

The following texts are included:

Publisher's Note
H. C. Papadimitrakopoulos, "Epilogue"

The person and the work
- Alexandros Argyriou, "Alexandros Kotzias"
- Maro Douka, "The great Alexandros Kotzias"
- Giannis Kiourtsakis, "Farewell"
- Giannis Kontos, "Alexandros Kotzias ('The mill of prose')"
- Dimosthenis Kurtovic, "Alexandros Kotzias (1926-1992)"
- Christoforos Milionis, "The self-portraits of Alexandros"
- Pantelis Boukalas, "The literature of negative heroes"
- Vangelis Raptopoulos, "The novelist"
- N. D. Triantafyllopoulos, "Alexandros about Alexandros"
- Andreas Frangias, "Close to the limit"

The prose writer
- Kostas Stergiopoulos, "Alexandros Kotzias and 'Poliorchis'"
- Titos Patrikios, "The message of horror and the dangers of the messenger. Alexandros Kotzias: 'Poliorchis'"
- Alexis Panselinos, "Alexandros Kotzias: the novelist and the ideology"
- Alexis Ziras, "Realism and expressionism: the demonic experience of history in the work of Alexandros Kotzias"
- Nikos Fokas, "Alexandros Kotzias: surpassing realism"
- Mary Mike, "History and fiction: 'Antipoiisis Archis' (1979) by A. Kotzias and 'O Katsantones' (1862) by K. Ramfos"
- Michalis Moschos, "Crimes of imagination, punishments of reality"
- Aikaterini Koumarianou, "Something truer than historical truth - a novel"
- Georgis Giatromanolakis, "Alexandros Kotzias: a moral writer"
- Spyros Tsaknias, "The evolution of narrative technique. 'The Attempt' and 'The Brave Telemachus' milestones on the path to 'The Antipodes of Authority'
- Lydia Stefanou, 'The Alley'
- Vangelis Chatzivasileiou, 'May 21, 1958'

The other aspects
- Panagiotis Moulas, 'The Eye of the Critic'
- Giorgos Aragis, 'The Conclusion of Alexandros Kotzias' Critical Thinking in the Criterion of Time'
- Giannis Barberis, 'Furnishing a Tenant in a Theatrical Room'
- Anastasis Vistontis, 'Observations on the Translational Work of Alexandros Kotzias'