Guest author: T.M. Logan. Plus your hosts, Jonas Saul and Rania Stone.

Join us for our annual Reading Retreat, set for six enchanting nights in the stunning Greek village of Tolo. We’ve planned an amazing, fun-filled week that will make you never want to leave. Come for the stories, stay for the memories!

Lock your spot in now with no deposit!

Base yourself at the John & George Hotel in Tolo, Argolida, one hour from Athens. Over the week, we tour the ancient theater at Epidavros, visit Agamemnon's tomb at Mycenae, sail to Hydra, and spend a day in Nafplio. One price covers it all.

Check out the PDF for a full briefing of what's to come!

Plus: Greek dance lessons for the whole group as an add-on!

Note: Plan to arrive in Athens a few days before taking the chartered bus to Tolo. We can stroll along Athens's shopping streets and enjoy Greek cuisine together over several days, then take the bus to Tolo.

Awards Night: We're giving away nine awards in the country where it all began: Greece!

Celebrating thriller writers, indie authors, and everyone writing about Greece who deserved recognition and never got it.

BOOKfest Greece is six days of reading, conversation, and Greece—followed by the night of the Homer Awards gala ceremony. It is not a conference. It is not a workshop. It is a week spent in one of the most beautiful corners of the Peloponnese, reading alongside published authors, walking through ancient theaters and Bronze Age tombs, exploring Hydra, and ending with the most memorable evening in the literary calendar. The awards mean more when you have spent the week with the people who wrote the books.

The Awards That Were Always Missing

Every year, hundreds of books are published in English about Greece. Thrillers. Historical fiction. Romance. Literary fiction. Written by authors from around the world who have spent years researching Greece, traveling to Greece, and falling in love with Greece.

Not one major English-language award has ever had a category for them. Every significant prize is based in New York or London.

None of them in the Mediterranean. None of them has a category for the writer who set their thriller in Santorini, their historical novel in Byzantine Constantinople, or their literary fiction on a Greek island.

The Homer Awards were built to change that.

Jonas Saul, renowned as the bestselling author of the Sarah Roberts Series, has a literary impact that extends beyond the two million copies sold. With almost sixty novels under his belt, the bustling city of Los Angeles saw the fruition of numerous deals, including MadRiver Pictures’ optioning of his extensive forty-book Sarah Roberts Series, currently in development.

Rania Stone is Greek. She spends winters in Athens and summers on Amorgos, in the Aegean. She's written eight novels and twelve children's books — thrillers built on suspense and a strong sense of place. She also has a degree in hotel management, a background in culinary arts, and twenty years running her own businesses.

Jury Members:

Thriller Awards
Jonas Saul — Chair. 60 published thrillers, founder of Imagine Press.
Andrew F. Gulli — managing editor of The Strand Magazine.
Ashley Marie Coffey — administrator of the Psychological Thriller Readers Group, the largest reading group on Facebook.
Reader Voice — one seat belongs to a reader, elected from the Thriller Book Retreat community in January 2027.

Greece Fiction
Rania Stone — Greece Fiction Lead. Author, retreat leader, co-founder of Imagine Greece Retreats.
Maria Karamitsos — journalist, author, and founder of WindyCity Greek magazine.
Dr. Lina Varotsi — author and creative-writing scholar, published by Routledge.
Wendy H. Jones — multi-award-winning Scottish crime author.
Eleni Chelioti — novelist and literature teacher, published by Athens Voice Books.

Stay updated through our Facebook communities: Thriller Book Retreat and Solo Travel to Greece.

www.imaginegreeceretreats.com

Cancellation Policy: 

We offer a 100% refund for cancellations prior to July 1, 2027, roughly three months before the retreat begins. We must pay the hotel for your rooms by July 1st, so if you cancel after that date, we won't have the funds to issue a refund. Please purchase travel insurance.

Waiver of Liability

By participating in this retreat, I agree to release Imagine Greece Retreats (IGR), the retreat faculty, staff, and the associated hotel from any liability for injuries that may occur during the retreat. I understand that this release includes financial responsibility for any injuries incurred, even if due to negligence.

I acknowledge the inherent risks associated with activities such as yoga, meditation, sightseeing, and hiking. I voluntarily assume these risks and understand that I can withdraw from any activity if I feel uncomfortable at any time.

By joining this retreat, I forfeit the right to bring any claims against IGR, its faculty, or staff related to my participation. I understand that I am responsible for following all safety precautions provided in writing and verbally, and I will seek clarification whenever necessary.

In return, I will benefit from the activities and experiences offered during the retreat.