Foreign words

Blurb

Foreign Words is a novel by Greek author Vassilis Alexakis that tells the story of middle-aged writer Nicolaides and his decision to learn the African language Sango following the death of his father. The novel was originally published in 2002 in France as Les mots étrangers, where it was short-listed for the Renaudot Prize and the Interallié Prize. It was then translated by the author and was published in 2004 as Oi xenes lexeis in Greece, where it won the prize for best Greek novel of the year. The English translation Foreign Words was done by Alyson Waters and was published by Autumn Hill Books in 2006.