When Coffee Stories Connect Colombia to Greece Through Literature

On June 17th, IWCA Greece created an evening where coffee and storytelling converged. Colombian author Carlos Ospina and journalist Vasileia Fanarioti, an IWCA Greece member, discussed stories spanning Colombia to Greece—stories of coffee smallholders, families, women, memory, and culture.

Ospina's book, "El Andariego: Relatos Cafeteros" (The Wanderer: Coffee Tales), provided the foundation. His literary narratives combine reality with imagination, rendering Colombian coffee producers' experiences as stories rather than reports. That approach creates different connection than documentary accounts—stories invite readers into experiences rather than just informing them.

IWCA Greece used the event to present preliminary findings from their research on women in Greek coffee industry. That pairing—Colombian coffee stories alongside Greek coffee data—demonstrated the organization's dual focus: connecting Greek members to international coffee communities while addressing local gender equity challenges.

The research represents IWCA Greece's first quantitative effort to document women's participation in Greek coffee industry. Documentation matters because you can't address problems you haven't measured. Data about women's representation, roles, and challenges provides foundation for targeted interventions.

The institutional partnerships supporting the event demonstrated IWCA Greece's relationship-building capacity. The Colombian Embassy in Rome, the Honorary Consulate General of Colombia in Greece, Instituto Cervantes Athens, and Nespresso Business Solutions Greece all supported the event. Those partnerships require sustained relationship development and demonstrated execution capacity.

Vasileia Fanarioti's role as interviewer positioned IWCA Greece member as facilitator of cross-cultural conversation. That visibility matters—Greek women coffee professionals engaging substantively with international coffee topics, contributing to cultural programming.

The venue choice and format—evening event focused on storytelling—created accessible atmosphere. Literary events attract different audiences than industry conferences. Some came for Colombian literature, some for coffee culture, some for research findings. That mixed audience expands awareness beyond already-engaged coffee professionals.

IWCA Greece noted that stories like Ospina's demonstrate storytelling's power to connect experiences and amplify women's voices globally. Changing narratives requires multiple approaches—data and research certainly, but also stories, literature, cultural events, and creative expression.

The Colombian producers Ospina writes about won't visit Athens, but their stories traveled there through his literary work, made vivid through conversation between Colombian author and Greek journalist, supported by diplomatic and cultural institutions, hosted by women's coffee organization.

The evening demonstrated that IWCA Greece understands their work requires multiple approaches: research to document challenges, storytelling to build empathy, partnerships to amplify reach, and events that connect international coffee narratives to local gender equity work.