- Homer Awards opened for submissions on September 1, 2026
- Reader-elected jury seat allows community voting for one panel member
- Two branches cover thriller and Greece fiction categories
- Penelope Award includes full publishing deal from Imagine Press
- Winners announced at Imagine BOOKfest Greece, October 17-23, 2027
The Homer Awards, a new international literary prize dedicated to fiction set in Greece, has opened for submissions on September 1, 2026, with a jury structure that includes one seat reserved for a self-nominated “thriller addict” reader voted onto the panel by the community. The prize spans two branches, comprising the Thriller Awards with four categories named Odyssey, Circe, Athena and Hermes, alongside the Greece Fiction Awards featuring the Aristophanes, Aphrodite for romance and Herodotus categories. Readers nominate and vote on entries themselves, including indie titles that do not reach traditional judges’ desks, with voting opening on January 1 and the field narrowing to a longlist of six per category before the jury steps in for the shortlist and winners.
The Penelope Award offers a completed, unpublished thriller manuscript a full publishing deal from Imagine Press, while the winner of the reader-judge seat receives a covered stay at the pre-ceremony reading retreat. The jury comprises published thriller writers, editors and craft instructors, with the reader-elected member joining this panel through community voting rather than organisational selection. The awards have been designed to prioritise reader engagement and democratise the literary prize process.
Winners will be announced live at Imagine BOOKfest Greece, taking place from October 17 to 23, 2027, in Tolo on the Peloponnese coast, with the gala itself scheduled for October 22. Full category and submission information is available at www.homerawards.com, with review copies and interviews with co-founders Rania Stone and Jonas Saul available upon request. The Homer Awards represent the first English-language literary prize born in Greece.
Homer Awards co-founder Rania Stone shared “The Homer Awards have been designed to place readers at the centre of the literary recognition process, with community voting and the elected reader jury seat ensuring that popular fiction receives the attention it deserves alongside critical acclaim.”
Homer Awards co-founder Jonas Saul shared “The Penelope Award represents a genuine opportunity for unpublished thriller writers to secure a publishing contract, with Imagine Press committed to bringing the winning manuscript to market through their full publishing programme.”
