International Women’s Day
March is Women’s History Month and March 8 is International Women’s Day! Over the last few years, I’ve created lists featuring Greek-American authors. Since we are commemorating international women, I thought it time for a list full of global Greek women authors. Some you may not have heard of — yet!
Let’s meet them.
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Elene Catrakilis
Born in South Africa to Greek-Cypriot parents, Elene holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B) from the University of the Witwatersrand, as well as a postgraduate Honors Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from the University of South Africa. She now calls Atlanta home.
Her debut historical novel, Under an African Sky (Belvedere House, 2026), will be out next week. It’s a story about friendship, family, forgiveness, and the fragile, resilient threads that connect us, even as the world around us unravels. Website
Kika Hatzopoulou
Bestselling and award-winning author of Threads That Bind (Razorbill, 2023), Hearts That Cut (Razrobill, 2024), and Moth Dark (GP Putnam Books For Young Readers, 2025), Kika was born in Greece and now lives in London. She holds an MFA in writing for children from the New School inNew York.
Her debut YA novel, Threads That Bind, launched at #3 on the Sunday Times bestseller list, won the CYBILS Award, and the Redbridge Award. It was also nominated in the Locus Awards and Goodreads Choice Awards; and has been published in 10 territories across the world. Website
Aphrodite Jones
A bestselling author, Aphrodite writes true crime books that have inspired real-life films including the Academy Award-winning film, Boys Don’t Cry; the ABC movie, Betrayed By Love; and Lifetime film, The Staircase Murders, a story that later became the subject of the hit Netflix docu-series The Staircase. Jones is an activist for victim’s rights and has delivered keynote addresses to many groups. She is also a TV persona who has a penchant for “telling like it is”, and has appeared as an expert on CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, HLN, MSNBC, and FOX News. Aphrodite was born in Chicago to an American father and a Greek-born mother. She now lives in South Florida.
Aphrodite has published nine books, including her debut novel, The FBI Killer (Pinnacle Books, 1992), which was adapted into an ABC TV movie. Her latest, Dog O’ War: The Fatal Attack That Exposed The Aryan Brotherhood, will be out later this month. Website
Maria Karametou
A mixed media artist, writer, curator, and professor, Maria has exhibited around the world. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including Fulbright Senior Research Scholar Award from the Council for the International Exchange of Scholars; multiple prizes for her art. Maria served on the Board of Directors of the Arlington Arts Center from 2004 -2012 and is a juror and curator of many shows. She is a professor emeritus from George Mason University School of Art.
As a writer, her short stories and poetry have been published in anthologies, literary journals, and magazines. Her debut historical novel, The Amalgam (Vine Leaves Press, 2026), will be out later this month. Maria was born in Greece but now calls the Washington DC area home. Website
V.K. Leon
V. K. divides her time between Greece and London. By day, she moves through the world of ships and trade. By night, she creates worlds “where fate and eros meet in a dangerous dance that burn with desire and consequence”.
Her debut novel, The Thread Ruby (independently published, 2025), a spicy paranormal romance, is the first in a trilogy that explores a love so powerful it refuses to be bound by a single lifetime. The book was featured in The Table Read Magazine, which praised V.K. for “establishing herself as a bold new voice in romance.” Website
Lydia Lukidis
A conceptual artist and award-winning author of 60+ trade and educational books for children, Lydia has combined her lifelong passion for reading and her scientific studies to writing books with stimulating STEM topics, while keeping the text accessible and engaging for young readers. In the KidLit community, she volunteers as a judge on Rate your Story and co-hosts the annual Fall Writing Frenzy competition. She lives in Quebec, Canada.
Lydia has published 30 books and eBooks, plus with numerous stories, poems and plays. Her latest is called Groucho the Grouchy Groundhog (Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2025). Website
Lena Manta
Lena Manta was born in Istanbul, Turkey to Greek parents. When she was very young, her family moved to Greece, where she still lives. She initially set out to be a nursery school teacher, but instead created and directed a puppet theater. After, Lena began writing articles for local newspapers, and for a time was a director for a local radio station. Regarded as the best-selling woman fiction author in Greece, she has sold more than 2 millions copies worldwide and her books have been sold in many countries, such as Albania, Bulgaria, China, Italy, Serbia, Spain, and Turkey.
She was proclaimed Author of the Year in both 2009 and 2011 by Greek Life & Style magazine. She has written thirteen books, all of them published by Psichogios Publications, including the bestselling The House by the River, which is the first of her books to be translated into English by Gail Holst-Warhaft. It was adapted into a popular Alpha TV series in Greece. The only other one of her books translated into English to date is The Gold Letter (2019), also by the same translator. Her latest Greek-language release, ΜΗ ΦΟΒΑΣΑΙ ΤΗ ΛΕΥΚΗ ΣΕΛΙΔΑ, ΦΟΒΑΤΑΙ ΑΥΤΗ ΕΣΕΝΑ (Don’t Fear the Blank Page, It’s Fearing You) (Psihogios, 2026) was co-written with Claire Theodorou.
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Sofia Martimianakis
Sofia is a neurodiverse writer, renewable energy reporter, and photographer based in Toronto. She completed her undergraduate degree in English Literature at Trinity College, University of Toronto, and her MA in Literary Studies at the University of Waterloo. Raised by two talented storytellers, who immigrated to Canada from Crete, Greece, Sofia’s work draws on her Greek heritage and summers spent abroad.
Her poetry, nonfiction, and photography have been published in a variety of literary journals and she released Island Life to City Life as part of Heinemann’s Shared Reading Collection. Check out ‘Journey to Ithaca’ in Rappahannock Review. Website
Amanda Michalopoulou
Amanda was born in Athens, Greece. She she studied French literature in Athens and journalism in Paris. She currently teaches creative writing. Amanda has published nine novels, several short story collections, and books for children. Her works have been translated into more than 20 languages. Amanda is the recipient of numerous awards and accolades, including the National Endowment for the Arts International Literature Award 2008, the Athens Academy Prize, and the Diavazo Award. She was shortlisted twice for the ALTA Literary Prize in the US. From 1990-2008, she was a columnist and contributing editor for Kathimerini newspaper.
Among her novels are God’s Wife, translated to English by Patricia Felisa Barbeito (Dalkey Archive Press, 2019); and Why I Killed My Best Friend, translated to English by Karen Emmerich (Open Letter Books, 2014). Website
Kallia Papadaki
Born in Didymoteicho, Greece and raised in Thessaloniki, Kallia is an acclaimed author and screenwriter. She studied economics at Bard College and Brandeis University in the US. Upon her return to Greece, she studied film at the Stavrakos Film School in Athens. Her short story collection, The Back-Lot Sound (Polis Publishers, 2009), won the New Writers Award from the Greek literary journal Diavazo. A poetry collection, Lavender in December (Polis Publishers), came out in 2011. Her short stories and poems have been published in international anthologies and literary journals.
Her debut novel, Dendrites, originally published in Greek in 2015, won the EU Prize for Literature and the 2016 Young Author’s Award from the literary journal Clepsidra. It has since been translated into several languages. Karen Emmerich (World Editions, 2024) translated it into English.
September, her first feature script premiered at the 48th Karlovy-Vary International Film Festival. In 2010, it won the International Balkan Fund script development award and received the Nipkow Scholarship in Berlin. Her second script, Forty Days, is currently in development.
Emily Tsokos Purtil
From Perth/Boorloo in Western Australia, Emily traces her Greek roots to Evia, Kastellorizo and Rhodes. She Emily studied at the University of Western Australia and the University of British Columbia, Canada and worked as a lawyer in Perth and Paris. Her essays, fiction and poetry have published in anthologies and journals in Australia and the United States. She has had short fiction published in Westerly, Griffith Review and Science Write Now. Emily has won multiple awards for her work. She won the 2024 Griffith Review Emerging Voices Competition for her essay, Know Thyself, a meditation on genetic inheritance and mythology.
Emily’s debut novel Matia (UWA Publishing, 2024) won the 2025 Western Australian Premier’s Book Award for an Emerging Writer. Website
International Women’s Day Honoring 10 Greek Women Authors
Well, there you have it. What a great way to celebrate International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month! Hope you enjoyed learning more about these wonderful Greek women authors. Be sure to add them to your list!
There are many more talented Greek women authors and other great books to explore. For more author and book recommendations, email me.
Read more:
International Women’s Day: 10 More Greek-American Authors
10 Greek-American Women Authors to Read this Women’s History Month
