We reproduce below the speech that the Greek-Swedish writer Theodor Kallifatides gave at the Palau de la Música on Thursday, November 27, when he was awarded the first Diari ARA International Prize as part of the celebration of the newspaper's 15th anniversary.

Theodor Kallifatides set aside his iconic pipe to take to the stage to receive the first Diari ARA International Prize, an award intended to recognize the contributions of individuals or institutions to global progress and coexistence. The prize was presented by the newspaper's director, Esther Vera, who stated that the writer "embodies the values of a pluralistic Europe, open to dialogue between cultures and complex identities, a Europe that in Kallifatides finds the essence of humanistic thought and the ethical legacy of Ancient Greece." For ARA, his testimony "radiates tolerance, a strong work ethic, integration into his adopted society, and at the same time, fidelity to his origins," which he has so aptly portrayed through "the human pulse of his stories."

We met the Greek-Swedish writer Theodor Kallifatides by the Mediterranean Sea, at the Club Natació Barceloneta. At 87, he walks with agility. It's a sunny day; people are at the outdoor pools and on the beach. At the end of the interview, Xavier Bertral, the photographer and a keen reader of his work, explains that his daughter Emma once, when referring to the typical sugary Greek sweet... kourabieHe asked, "Can I have a caliphate?" Theodor was charmed by the anecdote. And so we said goodbye... We had previously spoken for an hour about the twelve Olympian gods and, through them, about a present marked by the eternal problems of the human condition: war and peace, love and hate, jealousy and hope. The writer, who emigrated to Sweden at the age of 25 and became a successful author there and in the Swedish language—we conducted the interview in English, but he also speaks French, Italian, Spanish, and German—will receive the first Diari ARA International Prize on Thursday, November 27, at the Palau de la Música.

"No one writes for eternity anymore, simply because eternity no longer exists!" Olga told him one day, looking at him with her light green, penetrating, hungry eyes. She had a warm, curious, bewitched, and compassionate gaze. For her, our time was—is—"the antechamber of barbarism," in which only one value rules: selling a lot, earning a lot. Money as the measure of all that is human.

Theodor Kallifatides (Molaoi, Peloponnese, 1938) no longer has any friends or family in Greece. "There's no point in going back, everyone's dead: my parents, my brother, my friends... I have nothing. If I lose people, I lose the country. If I go there now, I'm just another tourist. Sweden is where I have the people I love. My country is my family." He says it simply, as he writes. This is how the Greek-Swedish author explained himself on this rainy Monday at the CCCB, in front of more than three hundred people.

Theodor Kallifatides (Mololai, 1938) emigrated to Sweden at the age of 25. He had no idea of Swedish, but in a short time he became a successful writer in that language. Now he is a small literary phenomenon in Catalonia and Spain thanks to the translation of books -these written in Greek- in which he recovers the memory of his Greek family and his youth: Mothers and Children, The Past is Not a Dream and Another Life. He has published more than 40 titles. In this interview he talks about Greece and Sweden, his family, and politics.