Katia is an award-winning author, book editor and educator from Melbourne/Naarm. She was born in Odessa, Ukraine. Her memoir, The Swift Dark Tide, was shortlisted for the Stella Prize in 2024 and won the 2024 Society of Women Writers NSW Non-fiction Prize. Katia’s work has appeared in the Age, Womankind Magazine, Archer and The Guardian. She was the recipient of the Varuna Residential Fellowship (2022) and Bundanon Writing Residence (2024). Katia holds an Arts/Law degree from Monash University and Graduate Diploma and Publishing and Editing from RMIT. Her second book, Ferryman: The Life and Deathwork of Ephraim Finch, was published by Wild Dingo Press in June 2025.
Katia Ariel
