The Herodotus Award
Named for the father of history, who understood that the past is not dead. It is a story waiting to be told to people who need it. Herodotus traveled the ancient world collecting stories. He knew that history was not dates and battles. It was people making impossible choices in extraordinary circumstances. The historical novelist knows exactly what he meant.
The Herodotus Award is presented annually to the best historical fiction set in Greece.
Greece has more history per square mile than almost anywhere on Earth. Most of it has never been novelized for an international audience. The Herodotus Award exists for the writers who are changing that.
Presented at the Homer Awards gala ceremony, John & George Hotel, Tolo, Argolida, October 22, 2027.
Scoring criteria
· Narrative tension: Does it compel you to keep reading?
· Originality: Does it do something the genre hasn’t seen before?
· Character: Do you believe in the people on the page?
· Reader impact: Will you think about this book a month from now?
Eligibility
Publication
Must be published in English between
October 1, 2025, and October 1, 2026.
Setting requirement
The book must be set in ancient, Byzantine, or modern historical Greece. The historical period must be central to the story — not merely a framing device.
How to enter
Publishers submit directly. Community members may also nominate indie authors using a verified Amazon review of at least 50 words.
How it works
Publisher route
- Submit your title.
Publishers submit directly between October 1 and December 31, 2026. Submission fee applies. - Eligibility check.
Our team checks all submissions and nominations against eligibility rules. The book must be published in English between October 1, 2025, and October 1, 2026, and meaningfully set in Greece. Books failing eligibility are removed. Publisher fees are refunded. - Community votes for the longlist.
Thriller Book Retreat and Solo Travel to Greece members vote on all eligible titles. The 10 titles with the most votes become the longlist. Publishers of longlisted titles are formally notified by Imagine Press. - Panel reads and scores. The Greece Fiction sub-panel reads the longlist and scores each title across four criteria — Authenticity of Greece, Originality, Character, and Reader Impact — each scored from 1 to 5, for a total of 20. Rania Stone holds the casting vote. Results sealed immediately. Individual scores are never published.
- Winner announced at the gala
The Herodotus Award is presented live at the Homer Awards gala ceremony, John & George Hotel, Tolo, Argolida, October 22, 2027.
Community route
- Submit your title.
Community members nominate by posting a verified Amazon review of at least 50 words and submitting the nomination form. - Eligibility check.
Our team checks all submissions and nominations against eligibility rules. The book must be published in English between October 1, 2025, and October 1, 2026, and meaningfully set in Greece. Books failing eligibility are removed. - Community votes for the longlist.
Thriller Book Retreat and Solo Travel to Greece members vote on all eligible titles. The 10 titles with the most votes become the longlist. Longlisted indie authors are contacted personally — many will not know they were nominated. - Panel reads and scores.
The Greece Fiction sub-panel reads the longlist and scores each title across four criteria — Authenticity of Greece, Originality, Character, and Reader Impact — each scored from 1 to 5, for a total of 20. Rania Stone holds the casting vote. Results sealed immediately. Individual scores are never published. - Winner announced at the gala
The Herodotus Award is presented live at the Homer Awards gala ceremony at the John & George Hotel, Tolo, Argolida, on October 22, 2027.
Key dates
Submissions open October 1, 2026
Submissions close December 31, 2026
Longlist announced February 15, 2027
Shortlist announced
May 1, 2027
Gala ceremony October 22, 2027
A note for Greek publishers
The Homer Awards welcome submissions from Greek publishing houses. If your catalog includes English-language titles — or Greek works translated into English — published between October 1, 2025, and October 1, 2026, we encourage you to submit.
For questions in Greek, write to us at info@homerawards.com, and we will respond accordingly.
Submit as publisher
Nominate a book
About Herodotus
Herodotus was born in Halicarnassus — in what is now Turkey — around 484 BC. He is called the father of history because he was the first writer to systematically collect, verify, and record past events as a connected narrative.
His great work, the Histories, covers the wars between Greece and Persia — the battles of Marathon, Thermopylae, and Salamis — alongside extraordinary digressions into the customs, geography, and stories of every civilization he encountered.
Every historical novelist working today is doing exactly what Herodotus did — giving the past a human face and making it matter to people who weren’t there.
The artwork
Jacques-Louis David (1748–1825) Leonidas at Thermopylae 1814 · Oil on canvas · 395 × 531 cm Musée du Louvre, Paris Public domain
One of the largest and most significant history paintings ever created. David worked on it for fifteen years. It depicts Leonidas and his 300 Spartans on the eve of the Battle of Thermopylae — the moment before they chose to die defending the pass against the Persian army.
Join the community
The Herodotus Award is nominated by two communities — Solo Travel to Greece and Thriller Book Retreat. Join either community to nominate your favorite historical fiction set in Greece.