Just before midnight on May 30, readers descended into the basement of the Monocle bookshop for an unusual encounter with Franz Kafka.
Announced on social media as “Kafka Underground,” the event replaced the conventions of a book launch with a hybrid of performance, staged reading and literary gathering. The basement was packed, with latecomers sitting on the narrow iron staircase.
In near-total darkness, actress Danae Papoutsi read passages from Kafka’s “Letter to His Father,” illuminated only by a flashlight. Writer Nikitas Siniosoglou, poet Ariadni Kalokyri and Monocle owner, poet and publisher Antonis Tsokos followed with readings, while archaeologist and DJ Kostis Christodoulou filled the pauses with Miles Davis.
For the organizers, the aim was not simply to present literature but to create a shared experience. The darkness removed distractions: no phones, no side conversations, only the text and the voices reading it.
The group plans to repeat the event monthly, focusing on eccentric works open to multiple interpretations. With simple staging and brief durations, “Underground” seeks to restore attention to literature – and to the communal act of listening.
