Trifonas Kaoulla

My name is Trifonas Kaoulla--most know me as Travis--and I am an aspiring novelist, essayist, and composer of short stories.

Raised in New Jersey by parents wrought on the island of Cyprus, my upbringing and subsequent adult life in the United States has been an unending minuet between American culture and that of the "Old World"--an unsteady dance between one of the most modern societies in the world and one of the oldest. The simultaneous exposure to these two worlds has amalgamated within me a variegated set of experiences which were at once wholly absorbed and analyzed by me through both a traditional Cypriot filter and a modern American filter; consequently, the process by which I have had to reach conclusions or to ascertain meaning in American society frequently has encountered a veritable conflict of interest. Only through compromising between old and new did I realize my life could accommodate both modes of living, and be better for it too!

What I have come to realize, especially as of late, is that whether it be American culture or Cypriot culture, what makes me human--which is really the only qualification one needs to be a writer--is the relationships that carry me through either medium: parents, siblings, extended family, friends, strangers--these interactions make me "me" and what make us "us." Thus, as a self-proclaimed citizen of social society I eschew political lenses from which many groups, insignificant in size yet never wanting in power of voice, demand me to look through. Blinded by political rhetoric, lying prostrate before political institutions, is no way to proceed forth in life which lasts but a few moments. Compromise between old and new, between myself and others, is the only mode which I understand, and it is this mode that drives my work.

I am as much a traditionalist as I am an idealist and a Romantic, consigning all that is worthwhile in life to that philosophical and artistic outlook that all is beautiful if we allow it to be; and that as much bad and evil as there is in the world, the good and the pure overpower both negative forces. The contemporary strains of cynicism and nihilism seemingly ubiquitous in modern Western societies are lost on me. I choose, rather, to look for the good.

I would like to end this one-way colloquy by thanking you, my readers, for visiting my author page. My hope is that you were able to learn something new about me and to better understand the experiences and the philosophy that drives my work. I thank you for choosing my work from the imbroglio that is Amazon's self-published book store, for giving me the chance to prove myself to you as a serious author, and hope above all else that you come again!

If you would like to be added to my Email list, where you will receive updates on upcoming stories, please email me at trifonasmailinglist@gmail.com

Thank you,

Trifonas P. Kaoulla