Story Seeds

It all began with this passport. The idea for Stealing Freedom came to me when my Thea Niki (the little girl in the photo) gave me this passport. It belonged to my great grandmother Kaliopi and is the one the she used to cross the Atlantic from Kalymnos, Greece and Ellis Island, NY in 1935.

At that time, Kalymnos was still under the Italian Occupation, as Italy had liberated the island from over 400 years of aggressive Turkish Occupation. Kalymnos had not yet rejoined mainland Greece yet, so the inhabitants were therefore legally registered as Italian-Greeks. Seeing this passport and hearing the stories my aunt told me about their journey (she remembered so many fascinating details!) sparked my desire to learn more about my family history, life in Kalymnos during those years, and the role the tiny island in the Dodecanese played in the Second World War that was just around the corner.

So, I did what every writer would. I started researching. And I researched and researched some more. I was astounded by the things I discovered and a story was born. I can’t wait to share it with you this spring! 🖤