Katherine Reilly

Katherine Reilly
Katherine Reilly reading a book.jpg Katherine Reilly reading a book.jpg
Born	(1976-06-26) June 26, 1976
🎓 Alma mater	University of Michigan (BA)
💼 Occupation	Author, Academic
📆 Years active	2003–
🌐 Website	https://katherinereilly.blog/

Katherine Reilly (born 26 June 1976) is a Greek-American author and academic lecturer. She has written multiple publications of children’s literature and English language learning.

Born in Chicago, Illinois, Reilly is the first open trans educator to reside and teach in Greece. She has studied English language and literature and has taught at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, as well as the Cyprus University of Technology both at their respective departments of English language and literature.

Reilly is a public speaker and has spoken in favor of the LGBTQIA+ community and the recognition of human rights. In 2022, Reilly was awarded with the title of ‘English Language Influencer of the Year' for her contributions to education by the administration of the regional Foreign Languages Forum.

Name

Upon transitioning to the gender of female, she chose the name ‘Katherine’ in honor of her late grandmother and the surname ‘Reilly’ in memory of a family friend who lost his life in an automobile accident. As she once stated, her desire to change her surname was due to marginalization she endured by her relatives who to this day refuse to acknowledge her because of her transition.

Life

Early life and family

Katherine Reilly was born on 26 June 1976 in Chicago, Illinois to a middle-class family. Her parents, Susan and George, are Greek immigrants who migrated to the United States in 1974. They started their own business in dining, running a family-owned restaurant for approximately two decades. Her parents’ desire to return to their homeland of Greece was a major influence on her as she followed suit in 2003 and resided permanently in Athens, Greece. Her parents are the only relatives who have supported her after her gender transition.

University

Reilly has studied and earned her BA in English Language and Literature at the University of Michigan. She has also extended her studies at the British Council in the field of inclusive materials writing, which offered her a broader perception of educational materials, incorporating race, gender, sex and diverse cultural elements. Reilly had completed her studies before her gender transition. To this day, she has claimed that pursuing her studies before transitioning made it easier to pursue the career of an academic, as she feared her identity as a trans woman might not have been welcome at the time of her studies.

Parenthood

Katherine Reilly has made efforts during the past decade to become a mother through a surrogate or by adoption. Since there are inconsistencies in the Greek law due to her being a trans woman, she has met many obstacles, leading her to publicly voice her concerns regarding same-sex couple marriage and adoption, both of which will be addressed in the near future as stated by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis

Katherine Reilly spoke in support of the trans community of Greece at the Upfront Initiative at the Onassis Culture Centre (2021)

Religion

Reilly identifies as a Greek Orthodox Christian, although she has expressed her dismay towards representatives of the church who criticize members of the LGBTQIA+ community due to their sexual orientation or gender identification. In response to the reprimanding stance of the Greek Orthodox Church she states that “The representatives of the church preach about love. Since they speak of love, they should set the example by embracing all members of society instead of showing contempt towards LGBTQIA+ individuals.”

Career

Bibliography

Reilly has written 43 books and publications. The certificates and acknowledgements of registration and authoring can be found on her personal website.

As an author, Reilly published her first works for Akakia Publications, with a three-volume children’s fantasy series named ‘The Adventures of Ben & Friday’, followed by a guidebook for trans women ‘The Road to Femininity’ and her novel, ‘I Can’t Love You’.

She then collaborated under the alias ‘Catherine R. Jones’ with an International Publisher, Prime Press Publishing, authoring a total of nineteen titles. Most recently, her collaboration with Express Publishing, another International Publisher, bore fruit with a total of eighteen titles, all of which concerned children’s literature. In both cases, the rights to the books as agreed belong to the publisher, a practice quite common in the field of English Language Teaching (ELT) authoring.

Reilly has expressed her grief as regards her collaboration with various international publishers. She has stated that she reluctantly accepted the omission of her chosen name from book covers to remain employed, as in one case the publisher at the time feared her identity as a trans woman would have had a negative impact on sales and the company’s reputation. In other cases, she was denied the right to present and promote her bibliography at book fairs due to possible sensitivities towards her identity as a trans woman.

Influences and Style

Katherine Reilly has claimed that science fiction filmography of the 1980s–1990s has had a major effect on her writing. Graphic Novels and comics have also influenced her as her books incorporate fantastical elements. Her first trilogy named ‘The Adventures of Ben and Friday’ are a testament to that inspiration. Reilly was inspired to a great extent by the works of Alan Moore, Stephen King, Grant Morisson and Neil Gaiman. Reilly’s style ranges from science fiction and fantasy to children’s literature. In contrast to this style, her educational bibliography focuses on the teaching of the English language for learners of all ages.

Academic Lecturer

Reilly is a prominent figure in multiple conferences and universities, as plenary speaker and teacher trainer for prospective English language educators. She has taught at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, the Cyprus University of Technology as well as private language institutions. She has most recently taught at the Oxford Innovate ELT conference organized by associates of the University of Oxford. Reilly is an avid supporter of critical thinking in education and has promoted this through her papers and lectures. Reilly also shares her papers and articles concerning teaching via ‘ELT News’, the printed and online magazine for English Language Teachers in Greece.

Katherine Reilly at the annual Oxford ELT Conference (2023)

Voice Artist and Radio Producer

Reilly has worked as a voice artist for children’s audiobooks. She has also worked as a Radio Producer both on the FM wavelength as well as web radios. She had once stated on her social media that “There are people who make fun of my voice due to the fact that it is stereotypically considered a male voice. However, it’s thanks to this voice that I am able to teach and give lectures.”

Greek National Opera

In 2022 Katherine Reilly was hired as Production Consultant for the Greek National Opera concerning the adaptation of the film ‘Strella’ by Panos Koutras. The film focuses on the relationship amongst a 25-year- old trans sex worker and a 45-year-old ex-convict. The film is considered a milestone amongst the transgender community of Greece as it highlights the struggles of trans sex workers of the time. During production, the main role was offered to a male actor, prompting Reilly to quit mid-production to express her disproval of the casting. She has stated publicly that “As long as trans rights are not recognized, it is essential that the role be given to a trans actress. If and when transgenders are treated equally, that need will no longer exist.” Her claims of unfair casting didn’t fall upon deaf ears as the main role was eventually recast and played by a trans woman. Reilly, however, was not rehired as part of the production.

Public Speaking

As a public speaker she has spoken at prominent conferences such as the Upfront Initiative at the Onassis Culture Centre with the President of Greece Katerina Sakellaropoulou in attendance, the Delphi Economic Forum, as well as organizations which support women in seeking employment such as ‘Mexoxo’ and ‘Women on Top’, for their respected conferences ‘Be an Ally Forum’ and ‘Live a Legacy’. She is also an Ambassador for the Generation Red 2.0 Project ‘Worldplaces’ which supports women of marginalized communities and refugees who seek employment. In 2021 she published a book in support of children’s cancer, ‘The Show Must Go On’ to raise awareness concerning this children’s illness. Reilly has stated that her students urged her to write it based on the specific issue, due to the loss of one of her students to leukemia. She has offered the book as a free publication which can be also accessed online. All donations are offered to the ELPIDA association in support of children with cancer.

Modelling and Advertising Campaigns

Katherine Reilly has always shown an interest in modelling. She is a model and screenwriter of the organization ‘Human Cast’ which promotes artists of marginalized communities.

A major opportunity for Katherine arose as she was selected as a model for Pantene's latest advertising campaign called ‘Hair Has No Gender at Work’ for the region of Greece in the year 2023. As a model of the campaign, she shared her working experiences and how instrumental respect and inclusion is at all workplaces, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identification or expression.

Activism and Volunteering

Reilly played a major role in restructuring the "Sunday School for Refugees" of Athens as she donated most of her library and reorganized classes to meet the ever-growing demands of the refugee influx in Greece. She was instrumental in training new volunteers as teachers and held the title of vice-principal for approximately three years before resigning to pursue activism on behalf of the local LGBTQIA+ community.

In 2022 Katherine Reilly presented the awards for the LGBTQIA+ category of the Animasyros Film Festival alongside the legal representative Vasilis Sotiropoulos. In the capacity of educator, she worked alongside students of the festival in creating diverse film projects which were displayed at the event.

Katherine Reilly has collaborated on multiple accounts with the U.S. Embassy of Athens to promote diversity and inclusion via the Embassy’s events and training conferences. In 2022 she interviewed United States Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBTI Persons, Jessica Stern, during the latter’s visit to Greece.

References

This article "Katherine Reilly" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Katherine Reilly. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

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