Literature

The output of prose - and of printed literature in general - during the Occupation was restricted by severe censorhip that caused intellectuals to protest or go underground.
Few works were published during the Occupation while the majority of those written during it came out some time after the Liberation. Writers who fall into this category include Yannis Beratis, Loukis Akritas, Angelos Terzakis, Yorgos Theotokas, Ilias Venezis, Stratis Myrivilis, Thanassis Petsalis-Diomidis and Pantelis Prevelakis.
Other prolific poets include the militant Angelos Sikelianos, Yannis Ritsos, who was writing during the Occupation but got published much later, Nikos
Engonopoulos who, with Bolivar in 1944, combined Surrealism with patriotism, and George Seferis who with Imerologio Katastromatos II recorded the repercussions of the events in the Middle East. Finally, in 1943 the collection Amorgos by Nikos Gatsos, that combined Surrealism with oral speech, circulated in manuscript form while in 1945 Odysseus Elytis brought out Asma iroiko kai penthimo gia to xameno anthypolochago tis Alvanias.
Some of these writers expressed a militant resistance attitude in underground issues such as Eleftheria, Protoporoi and Sovietika Nea, but also in legal periodical publications such as Peiraika Grammata, Philologika Chronika and Kallitechnika Nea.
In addition, large groups of writers were formed who met in various houses to organize assemblies and participate in strikes,
demonstrations and fund-raising activities. Among these are Elli Alexiou, Tassos Athanassiadis, Sophia Mavroeidi-Papadaki, Sotiris Skipis, Tatiana Stavrou, Markos Avgeris, Melpo Axioti, Dido Sotiriou, Alkiviadis Giannopoulos, Nikos Karvounis and Yorgos Labrinos.
Finally, it is worth mentioning that at the same time artists of post-war literature appeared, some of whom had as a source of inspiration the events of the Occupation and the resistance. The mass of resistance poetry produced in this period was impressive. Besides, resistance songs composed on the mountains followed the style of demotic songs or were arrangements of well-known international revolutionary anthems and popular tunes that stayed in the memory, giving new meaning to their content in accordance with the demands of the time.