Melbourne-based USA Today Bestselling Author Kathryn Gauci has just published her 15th book! Let’s meet her and learn more about her work.
Q&A with Kathryn Gauci
USA Today Bestselling Author Kathryn Gauci loves Greece! She’s lived there, written books about Greeks and their history. And she’s published her very first Greek travel memoir! Read on to learn more about her.
ABOUT KATHRYN GAUCI
Where are you from? Tell us a little about you?
I was born in the UK and after studying carpets and textiles at art college, I went to work, first in Vienna for a year, and then to Athens for six years. After almost two years in New Zealand, I finally settled in Melbourne, Australia.
Do you write full time or do you have a “day” job? Tell us about your work.
I now write full time.
TRAVEL TO GREECE
When did you visit Greece for the first time? Why?
I was fortunate enough to get a job as a carpet designer in Athens from 1972-78. The company was called Anatolia Carpets, and it was the biggest carpet producer in Greece at the time, exporting to the rest of Europe.
What made you fall in love with Greece?
That’s easy. It was so different to anywhere I’d been up until that time, particularly after Vienna, which still had a sense of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in those days. The Greek people were exceptionally welcoming and I have them to thank for opening my eyes to their history and culture.
ABOUT WRITING
How did you get into writing?
I had been a textile and carpet designer for over thirty years and wanted to do something different. I was drawn to writing because it was still creative and I was able to travel and explore history at the same time.
What inspires you as an author?
I absolutely love being a storyteller and transporting my reader to another time and place.
When did you start writing?
My first book, The Embroiderer, came out in 2014 but it took several years to write.
What do you like to write?
All my books to date, with the exception of this current memoir and my previous book, which is a historical murder mystery, are historical fiction, generally based around real events and characters from WWI to WWII.
WRITING ABOUT GREECE
What made you choose to write about your experiences in Greece?
The things I learned from the Greek people themselves: the stories of the Asia Minor refugees, WWII, together with an endless amount of history that seemed to seep into my bones.
BOOKS
Tell us about your first book. When did you publish it?
The Embroiderer was published in 2014 and is an epic that draws on my own background as a textile designer. It centres on The Asia Minor Catastrophe, but begins with the Massacre of Chios, 1822, and the Greek War of Independence up until WWII. So I am covering almost 150 years. The story starts when a young English woman is called to the bedside of her dying aunt in Athens and gradually discovers the chilling truth about her family’s dark past, plunging her into the shadowy world of political intrigue, secret societies, and espionage where a belief in superstition simmers below the surface. The main protagonists are an embroiderer and a couturier, both of whom reach their height under the Ottoman Empire but lose everything during the Great Fire of Smyrna. The Embroiderer was also translated into Greek.
How many books have you published?
Fifteen.
Tell us about your latest book.
An Aegean Odyssey: A Memoir is about the time I returned to Greece in 2005 in the hope of becoming a writer. At the time I had no idea what I would write about but I knew I wanted to find the old Greece that was quickly disappearing through modernization and tourism. It was a great leap of faith to make this change in mid-life, yet not being one to miss an opportunity, I set out alone, hoping to discover the beauty and rich tapestry of characters that had inspired such great writers of the past – Nikos Kazantzakis, Lord Byron, Henry Miller, Patrick Leigh Fermor, Odysseus Elytis, and Homer himself. I wanted to present Greece as a country that intertwines the past with the present: its people living modern lives against a centuries-old historical, cultural and geographical backdrop, and at the same time retrace my own time there. Whilst savouring regional food cooked in the age old traditions, I explored unspoiled villages set amid dramatic landscapes that would inspire me and stay with me forever. Somehow, I felt different. I had begun to let go and live with the rhythm of life and I wasn’t even aware it was happening. That is the power of Greece.
Have you published anything other than books? (i.e. essay, short story, poetry, etc.)
Not yet.
WRAPPING UP
What’s next for you?
I am in the middle of a story set in WWII Malta. I also have another in the pipeline set in Paris during WWII based on one of France’s worst serial killers who operated under the guise of the Resistance. Then it will be back to another book set in Greece.
What types of books do you like to read?
History and historical fiction, particularly modern history from 1800 onwards, biographies and memoirs, and a cross-section of general literature.
Who are some of your favorite authors?
Nikos Kazantzakis, Orhan Pamuk, Louis de Bernières, Giles Milton, Erik Larson, D.H. Lawrence, Khaled Hosseini, Mark Mazower, just to name a few.
Anything else you’d like to share?
I also love to support other authors! Check out my blog to read about some fabulous authors, including Peter Barber!
An Aegean Odyssey: A Memoir is out now! I hope you enjoy it and if you would be so kind, please leave a review.
CONNECT WITH KATHRYN GAUCI
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