The Strongbox

Winner of the Anglo-Hellenic League Runciman Award 2025
Shortlisted for the London Hellenic Prize 2025

'It began with the sun

appearing over the plane wing

supernatural orange

but no light'

The Strongbox opens with the abduction of a woman to a foreign land and ends with the Rape of Europa.

Drawing in elements of Greek mythology, epic literature and recent
history, this protean work gives shape to a cast of characters both
ancient and modern, as they flit in and out of tales, their voices
overlapping and interacting.

An unnamed girl is persuaded to leave behind her country and her
childhood and travel to a warzone. Helen of Sparta, already trapped
behind the walls of Ilium, is plagued by dreams about the coming
conflict. Gods continue their manipulations, while mortals persist in
defying the will of their gods.

Through a series of interconnected scenes and dialogues this singular
work traces the role of myth in shaping our accounts of both history
and contemporary events.