Maria Koulouri was born in 1975 in Chalkida, and now lives in Athens. She has studied speech therapy, psychotherapy, theater and is currently studying European Civilisation at the Hellenic Open University.
Three of her poetry books have been published in Greece by Melani Publications: “Bare Museum”, 2013 (Emerging Poet Award of the Hellenic Authors’ Association, 2014 – Nomination for the Greek State Poetry Prize) “Clocks and other beats”, 2015 (Sotirios Matrangas Award of the Academy of Athens, 2016) “Ordinary beds”, 2017. Her fourth poetry collection, “Urban deer”, is currently being published.
In France, an anthology of her poetry to date, “Lits quotidiens”, has been published by Le miel des anges publications, translated by Michel Volkovitch and Myrto Gontika, 2018. She has taught in the poetry workshops of the postgraduate program of the Hellenic Open University, in the Creative Writing department. She has taught creative writing and playwriting to a group of autistic adults and has edited their novels. She is in charge of the writing therapy program at the Institute of Mental Health and Personal Development “Galen” (“Galinòs”) and works with oncology patients, aiming to provide therapy through writing. She is in charge of the theater group for autistic adults at the Municipal Theater of Piraeus. Her one-act plays have been staged in Analogio Theater by the Hellenic Centre of the International Theatre Institute, Athens. Her hybrid text “Food” was presented in a theatrical performance at the Athens-Epidavros festival (2019, dir. Lefteris Papakostas). Her monologue “Boiling point” has been presented at the 2nd Festival of theatrical monologue (2018), at the “Eupolis-art” cultural venue. She has written the screenplay for the short film “Possibly Strangers” (directed by Giorgos Paterakis), which was screened at festivals both in Greece and abroad. Her reviews and translations of poems from French have been published in both print and digital magazines in Greece and abroad. Her poems have been translated into English, French, Spanish, Serbian, Polish, Slovakian and Turkish.
In May 2018, works by young artists, which were created after a workshop based on her book “Ordinary beds”, were exhibited at the Platforms Project 2018 (international visual arts platform by Athens School of Fine Arts).
She has participated in various international literary festivals in the Balkan countries.