Maine Literary Awards winner and published finalist in The Sewanee Review’s Fiction, Poetry & Nonfiction Contest
Excerpted from a memoir-in-progress, “The Gift” tracks a marriage’s secret as it echoes beneath a cherished adoption in violence-torn Peru. The essay appears in the 2025 summer edition of the nation's oldest, continuously published literary quarterly.
"...a story of love and loyalty that...finds a sharp moral focus."
-- Kirkus Reviews
"If you’re lucky, every once in a while you come across a book that overcomes you with its powerful story. My Xanthi, from first-time novelist Stephanie Cotsirilos, did that for me..."
-- Frank O Smith, Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram
"...a thriller backdrop for a tale that challenges pat categorization and opens up with a bang..."
-- D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review
My Xanthi brings together the clashing worlds of cantankerous, loveable criminal defense lawyer Nick Milonas: southern California where he lives with his Korean-American wife and twin daughters, the suburban Midwest where his proudly assimilating family raised him during the 1950s and 60s, and the bloody Greek history his forebears and his second-most-beloved maternal presence fled.
Read more about My Xanthi and check out British author Mark Wagstaff’s interview of Stephanie at The New Guard’s community page.
Women Living the Questions Podcast Series with Ruby Tugade.
When I met Ruby Tugade, she was gathering final guests for her podcast series on pioneering Yale women aged 60 and beyond. The art and business of storytelling have driven Ruby's work -- from Vassar to Yale School of Drama to the independent film industry to business development and strategy.
A daughter of immigrants, she mines her passion for leadership and legacy embedded in narratives across generations. She uncovers the meaning of what's held deep in memory. Please check out our tender and candid conversation on "Women Living the Questions" at Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
I was delighted to work alongside Kirstin Valdez Quade and Leigh Newman at the 2023 Sewanee Writers' Conference. See: Events
I spent September of 2021 at the Storyknife Writers Retreat in Homer, Alaska. Inspired by the venerable Hedgebrook program, Storyknife is one of the few U.S. residencies for women writers. I was grateful to have been named Storyknife’s first Katahdin Fellow. See: Events
If you’d like to arrange a reading and discussion with Stephanie, please connect with us. It will be a pleasure to get back to you.
Member of the Author’s Guild and Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance.