Which steps do you consider the most crucial and important in your fascinating journey?
I read voraciously and constantly, and I have travelled and lived in many places, cultures, and social contexts. Exposure to a maximum of perspectives has been essential to my evolution!
What is your connection with the publishing world, and what have been the highlights of your journey so far? What do you enjoy most about what you do?
With my partner Filip, we publish a literary and contemporary art periodical and literary works. Our periodical, the Journal of the Hydra Book Club, is a biannual collection of fiction, poetry, essay, and image commissioned from contemporary writers and artists. This is very much the full expression of who we are at the Hydra Book Club, our network of artist friends, and influence in the fields of contemporary writing and art. It is an absolute pleasure to engage with such a broad range of artists doing such exciting work. The engagement we have with this Greek and international community is what I love the most!
How did you discover Hydra, and what is the story behind the creation of the Hydra Book Club?
I came to Hydra many years ago on vacation, like many of the “foreigners” who now live here. I returned and eventually stayed because of the important friendships I made.
The HBC was born from my desire to contribute to the cultural life of the island, to engage more directly with the community, and to honor the heritage of the island’s literary scene while supporting the contemporary writers still very present today.
Why do you feel that Hydra has such a strong ability to bring together people from the worlds of art and literature?
This has been ongoing and uninterrupted for nearly 100 years, and has always been where Greek and international writers, thinkers, and artists come together in friendly collaboration. It is a continuum which contemporary artists easily fit into.
What is the purpose of the Hydra Book Club, and what do you enjoy most about being part of it?
Our mission is to honor the literary heritage of Hydra, while stimulating and supporting the contemporary scene. Our bookstore provides great literature from writers from on and off the island, and we often host contemporary writers for events and readings!
Again, the most rewarding aspect for me is the engagement and connection I have with the community here and the broad range of writers and artists we work with.
How does your international audience respond to the ideas and projects you put forward?
Our project is both Greek and international by nature, we use Hydra as a model for our print projects – always a dynamic multicultural mix. This allows our projects to resonate beyond the island and through all seasons.
What kinds of stories and ideas does the Hydra Book Club inspire?
Hopefully very festive, generous, lively, and sometimes tequila fueled stories! We are a serious project that doesn’t take things too seriously.
What do you love most about the publishing world, and what do you find most challenging about it?
Anyone working in publishing will agree, a burning passion fuels us all. The most challenging is funding!
What are the five best books of all time that you would recommend everyone to read and why?
I don’t know what the best books are, but I might take one or all of these to a desert island:
The Sleepwalker, Margarita Κarapanou
James and the Giant Peach, Roald Dahl
Franny and Zooey, JD Salinger
Blood Meridian, Cormac McCarthy
Their Eyes were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston
How Greece affects your new work?
Greece has grounded me. Again, it is the friendships I have made here that form such a solid foundation, I feel free to do many more things than ever before.
What are the 10 places and experiences you would recommend to someone visiting Hydra for the first time?
It most important to hike and discover the island, climb up, and out, of town. After that, make 10 new friends, see what happens.
Which achievements do you hold closest to your heart as the most important ones you have accomplished?
Certainly the now 6 years and running of the HBC. I consider commitment and longevity to be great achievements.
What is literature for you and how do you feel about the way it affects us?
Literature is our portal into emotion, compassion, and shared experience. It is the tangible evidence of our collective consciousness. It unifies us.
Tell us a story you will never forget.
If you come to the bookstore I’ll tell you all my stories, in person.
A dream project
The HBC is my dream project!
What is your definition of beauty
I find beauty in authenticity, in a lack of artifice, in honesty.
What is Authentic for you?
See above….effortless, essential.
About
Josh Hickey is an American writer, editor, and bookseller living in Hydra, Greece and Warsaw, Poland.
After over 8 years at the Direction of International Events for Cartier, he founded the Hydra Book Club in 2021. The Hydra Book Club is a literary project that has grown from its flagship bookstore on the island of Hydra to now include a literary periodical, exhibitions, live programming, and publishing.
He is the co-editor of the Journal of the Hydra Book Club an annual edition of fiction, poetry, essay and image with contributions from contemporary writers, visual artists, curators, critics, and philosophers.
Josh’s writing regularly appears in various international publications such at the Financial Times HTSI, Air Mail, Dapper Dan, and many others.
