Petros Panaou

Petros Panaou is a children’s and young adult literature author and scholar. He is a professor of Children’s Literature at the University of Georgia, where he chairs the annual Georgia Conference on Children’s Literature. Petros served as a primary school teacher in Cyprus and taught Children’s Literature at the University of Nicosia, Illinois State University, Central Michigan University, and Boise State University, before joining the UGA Department of Language and Literacy Education in 2016. His academic work focuses on international literature for children and young people, the social imagination, reading promotion, and creative reading and writing. He has coordinated European projects focusing on children’s literature. He is a board member of the Cyprus IBBY section and was a member of the executive board of USBBY. He has served on various literary award committees, including the Newbery, and has edited the international journal Bookbird from 2019 to 2022.

In 2022, his first young adult novel, titled Operation LOGOS – The Mobile Mystery, was published by Teleia Publications and received the Cyprus National Book Award for Literature Addressed to Children and Adolescents. It was also included in the international list White Ravens, as one of the 200 best books in the world recommended for translation into other languages. In January 2024, the sequel was released under the title Operation ANTI-LOGOS – The Mobile Mystery 2. The trilogy is expected to be completed in the fall of 2025, with Operation EPI-LOGOS. Petros’ first illustrated book, Dora Mouse, Curiosity, and the Cat, was released by Teleia Publications in spring 2025. The book is simultaneously published in China (21st Century Publications), translated by Mingzhou Zhang (former president of IBBY), and illustrated by acclaimed Chinese illustrator Wang Zumin.