Author Spotlight – Aristo Couvaras

Hi Aristo, thank you for joining us. Can you tell us about who you are and also about your writing: for example, what genres and themes do you write in and about, and is there anything that has influenced your choices?
I grew up in Durban, South Africa, before moving to Johannesburg, where I still live, for high school and university. As far as my writing, I aim for horror – how close I actually get to it is up to the reader. But being Greek, and having lived in South Africa, I always try to pull influences from one of the two, or sometimes both. Ultimately, if someone enjoys something I wrote, I count that as a win, if I scare them too, that’s a bonus.

Can you tell us a bit about your publications and writerly highlights, and what else we can look forward to seeing from you in the future?
Every acceptance is a highlight for me. My first printed publication was actually with  Things in the Well, in Beneath The Waves – Tales from the Deep. It was a story titled ‘The Natloer’, which shows the South Africa side of my influences, while this one, ‘A Light For The Grave’ shows the Greek.

This year has presented a lot of challenges for many of us. Instead of discussing those, what are some of your 2020 highlights?
Well on a personal note, this year I asked the love of my life to marry me –  and for reasons known only to her she said yes. So as far as highlights for me go, that’s pretty hard to top – even if this year has felt a little like the world is falling apart at times, I’ve been walking around with a big smile on my face (behind my mask of course).

You can find Aristo on Twitter @AR1sto

​Thanks, Aristo, for stopping by. And congratulations – that is indeed awesome news for 2020.

Aristo’s story “A Light For the Grave” appears in Trickster’s Treats 4: Coming, Buried or Not! , a charity anthology in support of the Indigenous Literacy Foundation.