27/05/2026
‘Paradisos’, the debut novel by Greek-Australian writer Bill Kokkaris, is a powerful story of love and the ties that transform us. Set on a fictional Aegean island during the summer of 2015, ‘Paradisos’ follows resort owner Emilio Politis who believes he has secured his future despite Greece’s economic turmoil. But his decision to rescue a Syrian mother from a capsized boat sets in motion a chain of events that brings division, suspicion, and unrest to his community.
In 'Paradisos', Bill Kokkaris explores themes of displacement, identity and belonging, reflecting on migration as a recurring human experience. The novel is informed by the author’s own family history of migration to Australia and his professional work with migrant communities.
We’re very pleased to announce the launch of Paradisos at the Embassy on 11 June. Hosted by Deputy Ambassador Lachlan Scully, the evening will feature the author in conversation with Greek-Canadian actor, director, and scholar, Dr Helen Tsefala, author of ‘One Hundred Years of Greek Theatre in Australia’. Together, they will discuss the novel’s themes, influences, and contemporary relevance.
Join us for what promises to be a stimulating and enriching evening of literature and conversation.
📅 Event details
Date: 11 June
Time: 18:00
Venue: Australian Embassy, 5 Hatziyianni Mexi Street
📝 Registration
Places are limited. Please register by 5 June by emailing [email protected]. Please note that only registered guests will be admitted.
👨🏫 About the author
Bill Kokkaris is a Greek-Australian visual artist and playwright. His plays Baraki, Night Journeys, and A Lifetime of Summers were produced by Take Away Theatre. Bill has also written one-act plays for Carnivale and Sidetrack Theatre. In 2020, Bill undertook an Invited Residency at Varuna, The National Writers’ House in Katoomba, where he completed the first draft of his novel Paradisos. In 2023, Paradisos was a finalist in the Eyelands Book Awards (Unpublished Novel category). When not writing, Bill paints and draws from his studio in the Blue Mountains.
📖 About the novel
On the fictional Aegean island of Phaedros, paradise is both inheritance and illusion. In 2015, as Greece struggles through economic crisis, Greek-Australian resort owner Emilio Politis believes he has secured his future. But when a freak storm capsizes a migrant boat, Emilio’s rescue of a young Syrian mother fractures the fragile order of his life, exposing deep rifts within his family and community. As fear, superstition and a shocking murder grip the island, ancient myths collide with modern anxieties: rumours of witchcraft, forbidden love, and religious intolerance. Emilio’s growing obsession with the refugee woman forces him to confront his own capacity for love, migration, and the cost of belonging to the island that both sustains and condemns him. Set against sacred ruins and weathered shores, Paradisos is a haunting literary novel of displacement, desire, and moral reckoning – and the uneasy truth that paradise must be earned, not inherited.
