Elli Peonidou: Cyprus ★ Author

“It is enough for someone to have the heart of a child, the eyes of a sorcerer and the wings of a fairy.”

Elli Peonidou

Writer of poetry, novels, plays, and books for children and young adults, Elli Peonidou was born in 1940 in the village of Vasa, near Limassol, Cyprus. Peonidou has always worked as an author, writing for newspapers and magazines, radio and television, and independently. Her work for children has been presented in various media, including radio shows, television puppet theatre, and on stage, performed by the Cyprus Theatre Organization and the National Theatre of Bulgaria, as well as by various Cypriot theatre companies. Her books have gained popularity throughout the world, appearing in more than ten different languages, and becoming a part of literary anthologies. Peonidou has also taken works of poetry from other countries and languages and adapted them into Greek.

Writing can be used to explore a variety of important topics with children, ranging from immediate concerns of smoking and other bad habits to global concerns of freedom, refugees, and ecological concerns for the planet and the environment. Elli Peonidou understands the ability of her craft to make a difference, and she succeeds in communicating these problems to children in a straightforward manner, using humor or seriousness and imagination, and she avoids preaching to them. The language she uses in each of her books is well adapted to the specific age group she is writing for, and she uses examples from daily life to help her young readers understand what she is telling them. A blend of realism with fantasy makes her books not only useful, but delightful.

Elli Peonidou has been well recognized for her work, winning many awards and literary honors. She has won the prestigious State Prize for Literature on a number of occasions. Not only does she write for children, Peonidou has also made a name for herself as a poet and as a writer for adults as well. She is a member of the International Association of Literary Critics, the Association of Greek Writers of Greece and Cyprus, PEN and the Children’s Book Association, and she has been a member of the International Jury for the Neustadt Prize for Literature sponsored by the University of Oklahoma.