Eleven awards. One country where it all began.
Celebrating thriller writers, indie authors, and everyone writing about Greece who deserved recognition and never got it.
Jacob Jordaens (1593–1678) · Odysseus in the Cave of Polyphemus · c.1630–1635 · Oil on canvas · Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow · Public domain
The Odyssey Award
Named for the greatest journey in literature — a hero trying to get home against monsters, betrayal, and a world that refuses to cooperate.
This is the headline award. The book that kept you turning pages all the way home. Submitted by publishers. Longlisted by the community. Winner chosen by the panel.
Jacob Jordaens (1593–1678) · Ulysses Threatening Circe · c.1630–1635 · Oil on canvas · Kunstmuseum Basel · Public domain
The Circe Award
Named for the sorceress whose power lay not in force but in the ability to change how others see reality itself.
The book that got inside your head and won’t leave. Submitted by publishers. Longlisted by the community. Winner chosen by the panel.
Attributed to Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn (1606–1669) · Pallas Athena · c.1664–1665 · Oil on canvas · Public domain
The Athena Award
Named for the goddess of wisdom and strategy — born fully formed, arriving in the world already, unmistakably, herself.
The sharpest new voice in the genre. Completely confident from page one, with no apprentice work visible anywhere.
Charles-Amédée-Philippe van Loo (1719–1795) · Mercury · Detail from The Elevation of the Great Elector into Olympus · 1751 · Ceiling painting, Marble Hall, City Palace, Potsdam · Destroyed 1945 · Public domain
The Hermes Award
Named for the god of travelers and messengers — those who move between worlds without a map, carrying their message alone. The indie thriller that most deserved to be found.
For the author who got there without the machinery of a major publisher behind them. Nominated by readers.
Giuseppe Bottani (1717–1784) · Athena Appearing to Odysseus to Reveal the Island of Ithaca · Oil on canvas · Public domain
The Ithaca Award
Named for the destination Odysseus fought years to reach against impossible odds.
The debut indie thriller that announced a voice the genre couldn’t afford to ignore. Getting a first book into the world without publisher support is its own Odyssey.
Mosaic showing theatrical masks of comedy and tragedy · Baths of Decius, Aventine Hill, Rome · 2nd century CE · Photo by antmoose · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
The Aristofanis Award
Named for Aristophanes, the master of comic drama, whose plays used laughter, absurdity, and wit to illuminate the human condition.
The novel set in Greece that made you laugh and want to book a flight. Comic fiction, cozy mysteries, and light-hearted stories where Greece itself is part of the joke and the joy.
Nikiforos Lytras (1832–1904) · Antigone in Front of the Dead Polynices · 1865 · Oil on canvas · 109 × 157 cm · National Gallery – Alexandros Soutsos Museum, Athens · Public domain
The Sofoclis Award
Named for Sophocles, author of Oedipus and Antigone — the writer who understood that the greatest stories are the ones that cost something to tell and something to read.
The book set in Greece that broke your heart or showed you something true and difficult about the human condition.
Jacques-Louis David (1748–1825) · Leonidas at Thermopylae · 1814 · Oil on canvas · 395 × 531 cm · Musée du Louvre, Paris · Public domain
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.
The book is set in ancient, Byzantine, or modern historical Greece, which makes the past feel present.
Sandro Botticelli (c.1445–1510) · The Birth of Venus (La nascita di Venere) · c.1484–1485 · Tempera on canvas · 172.5 × 278.5 cm · Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence · Public domain
The Aphrodite Award
Named for the goddess of love, beauty, and desire — born from the sea off the coast of Cyprus, the eternal embodiment of longing and connection.
The book set in Greece that made you fall in love — with the characters, the landscape, and the idea of a life lived differently.
John William Waterhouse (1849–1917) · Penelope and the Suitors · 1912 · Oil on canvas · 129.8 × 188 cm · Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museums · CC0 Public Domain
The Penelope Award
Named for the woman who waited, held everything together, and never gave up on her story.
The prize is a full publishing deal with Imagine Press. Professional editing, cover design, formatting, and global distribution.
Anton Raphael Mengs (1728–1779) · Helios as Personification of Midday · Oil on canvas · Public domain
The Markos Synodinos Award
Markos Synodinos was born in 1933 on Amorgos. Poet, writer, and man of letters. Honored by the Society of Greek Writers and the Panhellenic Union of Writers. He passed away in March 2021 at the age of 88.
This award is given in his name by his daughter Rania Stone to a writer whose work demonstrates a profound, earned engagement with Greece. It is not submitted for. It is not voted on. It is given. It is presented last of all. Because some things should be saved for the end.