Natalia Theodoridou

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Natalia Theodoridou
Bornc. 1984 (age c. 41)
Thessaloniki, Central Macedonia, Greece

Natalia Theodoridou (born c. 1984) is a Greek novelist, interactive fiction writer, and scholar. [1] He was the fiction editor at sub-Q, an interactive fiction magazine. The magazine entered indefinite hiatus starting August 2020. [2] As of 2025, as an interactive fiction writer he has been nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Game Writing four times.

Contents

Biography

Early life and education

Theodoridou attended the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki for his undergraduate studies, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in theatre. He subsequently attended the Royal Holloway, University of London in the United Kingdom, earning a Master of Research in drama studies, as well as a Master of Arts in religious studies at the University of Chicago in the United States, as part of the Fulbright Program. [3]

He has a PhD in Media & Cultural Studies from the SOAS University of London. [4] As part of his PhD, he spent fifteen months doing fieldwork in Indonesia researching Balinese dance. [5] He has also graduated from the Clarion West Writers Workshop. [4]

Career

Theodoridou's "The Birding: A Fairy Tale", published in Strange Horizons, was the winner of the 2018 World Fantasy Award for short fiction works. [6] It is about a plague that turns nearly everyone in the world into birds. The work was also adapted into podcast format. [7]

Theodoridou's debut novel, Sour Cherry, came out in April 2025 from Tin House (North America) and Wildfire (UK & Commonwealth).

Style

Themes

In a 2025 interview with Clarkesworld, Theodoridou stated that the themes he emphasised in his writing were ones of "transformation, diaspora, gender feels, migration, violence personal and political (I don’t see a difference), myths and fairy tales, intertextuality, queerness." [3]


Awards

Bibliography

Novels

Interactive Fiction

The following works were nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Game Writing.

Poetry

Short fiction

TitleYearFirst publishedReprinted / collectedNotes [8]
"The Nightingales in Plátres"2017Theodoridou, Natalia (November 2017). "The Nightingales in Plátres". Clarkesworld (133): 21–33.Nominated BSFA for Best Short Fiction 2017
"The Birding: A Fairy Tale"2017Theodoridou, Natalia (18 December 2017). "The Birding: A Fairy Tale". Strange Horizons .Winner, World Fantasy Award 2018
"The Names of Women"2018Theodoridou, Natalia (11 October 2018). "The Names of Women". Strange Horizons Fund Drive Special.Nominated BSFA for Best Short Fiction 2018
"Birnam Platoon"2018Theodoridou, Natalia (November–December 2018). "Birnam Platoon". Interzone (278): 62–73.Nominated BSFA for Best Short Fiction 2018
"Georgie in the Sun"2020Theodoridou, Natalia (March–April 2020). "Georgie in the Sun". Uncanny Magazine (33).Placed 34th Locus for Best Short Story 2021
"The Shape of Gifts"2020Theodoridou, Natalia (July–August 2020). "The Shape of Gifts". F&SF . 139 (1&2): 239–256.
"To Set at Twilight in a Land of Reeds"2022Theodoridou, Natalia (2022). "To Set at Twilight in a Land of Reeds". The Best of World SF . 2 (?): –––.
"Ribbons"2022Theodoridou, Natalia (2022). "Ribbons". Uncanny Magazine (44).
"The Prince of Salt and the Ocean's Bargain"2022Theodoridou, Natalia (2022). "The Prince of Salt and the Ocean's Bargain". Uncanny Magazine (48)Nominated for Nebula Award for Best Novelette 2022.
"Love at the Event Horizon"2023Theodoridou, Natalia (2023). "Love at the Event Horizon". Uncanny Magazine (53).
"Tell the King"2024Theodoridou, Natalia (2024). "Tell the King". Beneath Ceaseless Skies #401.2024 Locus Recommended Reading List
"Cursed Moon Queers"2024Theodoridou, Natalia (2024). "Cursed Moon Queers". Uncanny Magazine (60).
"UPDATE: The Buildings Are Hungry and the Plague Can Speak"2025Theodoridou, Natalia (2025). "UPDATE: The Buildings Are Hungry and the Plague Can Speak". Psychopomp.

References

  1. ↑ Acharya, Devi (3 September 2015). "Author Interview: Natalia Theodoridou". sub-Q Magazine. Archived from the original on 3 September 2015.
  2. ↑ "Submissions". sub-Q Magazine. Archived from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  3. 1 2 Sorg, Arley (April 2025). "Unapologetically Strange: A Conversation with Natalia Theodoridou". Clarkesworld. Retrieved 23 October 2025.
  4. 1 2 "Home". Natalia Theodoridou.
  5. ↑ Rubell, Ashley (3 April 2025). "Natalia Theodoridou: On What It Means to Be Saved, the Power of Names, the Stories That Inform Our Characters, and His Debut Novel 'Sour Cherry'". Write or Die Magazine. Retrieved 23 October 2025.
  6. ↑ "Announcing the 2018 World Fantasy Award Winners". Tor.com. 4 November 2018.
  7. ↑ Lay, Anaea (18 December 2017). "Podcast: The Birding: A Fairy Tale". Strange Horizons. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
  8. ↑ "Award Bibliography: Natalia Theodoridou". www.isfdb.org. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
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