Athina Kakouri

Athina Kakouri was born in 1928 in Patras, into a family of Kefalonian descent. She spent the war and the Occupation in Athens. After the Liberation, she returned to Patras, where she worked at her father Charilaos's shipping and oil agency. She published her first writings, including chronicles and travel impressions, in the newspaper "Neologos" of Patras. In 1952, she won an award in a translation competition for American short stories organized by "Ikaros" publishers, judged by Konstantinos Tsatsos, K. Th. Dimaras, and Apostolos Sachinis, which included a cash prize of 200,000 drachmas. In 1959, inspired by Agatha Christie's success, she wrote a detective story set in 1950s Patras and sent it to Eleni Vlachou, who never replied. She then sent it to "Tachydromos," where it was published with illustrations by Bost. This marked the beginning of her publishing detective stories featuring characters such as Inspector Gerakis, Toula, a housewife, and the cosmopolitan Nasso Daponte, an Interpol employee. She also signed major reports in "Tachydromos." During the same period, she wrote a radio series, collaborated with various publications, and engaged in translation. Her first book of detective stories ("218 Names") was published in 1963, and her second ("Salt on the Peanuts") in 1974, the same year her first detective novel, "Ghost Hunter," was released. Meanwhile, in 1970, her youth historical novel "The Fugitive of Avlona" was published. From 1976, she traveled between Greece, the United States, and Germany for 15 years. Her other novels include "The Knife of Fortune," "With Marika's Wings," "The Sowing of the Wind," "The Kite," "Tomorrow," "Primarolia," which won the Nikiforos Vrettakos Award, the novel "Thekli," which received the State Novel Award in 2005, and "Xifir Faler." In 2010, her autobiographical book "With Hands Crossed" was published. Her translations have been repeatedly awarded, while among her novels, "Primarolia" was honored with the Nikiforos Vrettakos Award, and "Thekli" won both the State Novel Award and the Academy of Athens Award.