Meet
Elene Catrakilis
Stories across borders, rooted in belonging.
About Elene
Elene Catrakilis is a novelist whose work explores themes of cultural identity, belonging, displacement, faith and the resilience of women. Her debut novel, Under an African Sky, is a contemporary historical novel set in 1989 South Africa, where the intersecting lives of a Greek-Cypriot immigrant and a Black South African woman reveal the personal cost of apartheid and the quiet power of female friendship.
She is a graduate of The Creativity Workshop of New York, the Yale Writers’ Conference & Workshop where she studied under award-winning novelist Julia Glass, and the Krouna Writing Workshop in Greece, led by author Henriette Lazaridis. In 2019, she received first prize in the Writer’s Digest Annual Writing Competition for her personal essay, God’s Tablecloth.
She is a member of the Atlanta Writers Club. Her cultural affiliations include the international associations, Lyceum Club of Greek Women and the Greek Orthodox Ladies Philoptochos Society.
Born in South Africa to Greek-Cypriot parents, she holds a Bachelor of Arts (1985) and a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B., 1987) from the University of the Witwatersrand, as well as a postgraduate Honors Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from the University of South Africa (1993). Her legal background and multicultural heritage continue to shape her understanding of human complexity and influence her work.
She now lives in Atlanta with her husband, while their two grown children and daughter-in-law remain an important part of their lives.When she’s not writing, she enjoys spending time with family and friends in the USA, Greece, and South Africa, reading widely, and finding inspiration in life’s quiet moments. She is currently at work on her second novel and is passionate about stories that bridge cultures and generations.
How I Came to Writing
From immigrant roots to a search for belonging, stories became the bridge across my worlds.
Where My Love for Stories Began
My love for stories began long before I thought about writing them. As the only child of Greek-Cypriot immigrants in South Africa, I grew up listening to stories told in different voices, accents, and languages. My mother read me Greek fairy tales, Irish Catholic nuns taught us Bible stories at school, and during family gatherings, uncles, aunts, and grandmothers shared memories of their youth in another faraway land.
I learned early on that stories weren’t just in books — they were how people explained the world, remembered it, and passed down love and legacy.
Finding My Voice as a Writer
It was only after I left South Africa for America that the urge to write truly took hold. Distance gave me clarity — I began to see my birthplace, my memories, and my identity in new ways. Writing became a way to process displacement, to reconcile cultures, and to explore what it means to belong.
Out of this tension, Sofia and Grace — the two women at the heart of Under an African Sky — were born. Through them, I discovered that even in a divided world, ordinary people can endure, connect, and hope.
Recognition & Community
From writers’ workshops to international awards, these milestones have shaped my journey and connected me to a global community of storytellers.
