About Mayra Calvani
Mayra Graciela Calvani is a Puerto Rican gothic fiction writer working across genres, including picture books. She holds a B.A. in Creative Writing and an M.A. in Western Literature, both magna cum laude. Her stories draw inspiration from her travels, cultural identity, and her Lebanese, Spanish, and Corsican heritage. Her works have won multiple awards, among them the SCBWI “Work of Outstanding Progress” grant and the International Latino Book Award. After having lived in Puerto Rico, the United States, and Turkey, Mayra is now settled with her family in Belgium, where she volunteers as Assistant Regional Advisor for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) Benelux chapter. She loves watching movies, collects creepy dolls, and has two cats, one of them a ghost.
Under her pen name Zoe Kalo, she writes young adult fantasy and gothic fiction.
Mayra is represented by Jolene Haley at the Donald Maass Literary Agency.
Long Bio
Mayra Calvani is a Puerto Rican author, born in San Juan and based in Brussels, Belgium. Educated in Catholic schools until the age of eighteen, she was deeply influenced by religious symbolism and moral philosophy—elements that continue to shape her work.
She holds a B.A. in Creative Writing and an M.A. in Western Literature. She has worked as a freelance writer and book reviewer, with articles, interviews, and reviews published in The Writer, Writer’s Digest, and Bloomsbury Review, among many others. She is the co-author of The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing, an award-winning guide which has been used in university courses, and the editor of Latina Authors and Their Muses, an anthology of interviews with fifty Latina authors that won First Place at the International Latino Book Awards.
Having lived in Puerto Rico, the United States, and Turkey before settling in Belgium, Mayra draws from a wide range of cultural influences shaped by decades of expatriate life.
A versatile writer, she works across genres, including picture books, middle grade, young adult, and adult fiction. Under the pen name Zoe Kalo, she writes young adult fantasy with gothic and supernatural elements, including themes drawn from folklore and mythology. She loves to write about morally ambiguous characters, and her fiction is characterized by an exploration of good vs. evil, moral dilemmas, justice, and the duality inherent in human nature.
In addition to her writing, she contributes a monthly column to Lifting the Rock on Substack and serves as Assistant Regional Advisor for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) Benelux. She is represented by Jolene Haley at the Donald Maass Literary Agency and currently has multiple manuscripts on submission.
Awards
2026 Shortlisted for the Historical Novel Society Competition (Little Skeletons, MG historical fantasy/magical realism)
2025 Shortlisted for the Searchlight Awards (Violeta’s Adventures in Doll-Land, Caribbean gothic horror)
2024 Shortlisted for the I Am in Print Awards (Violeta’s Adventures in Doll-Land, Caribbean gothic horror)
2024 Historical Novel Society Competition Honorable Mention Award (Violeta’s Adventures in Doll-Land, MG, Caribbean gothic horror)
2022 SCBWI’s “Work of Outstanding Promise” Grant (Penumbra, Caribbean gothic YA romance WIP)
2019 ScreenCraft Cinematic Story Competition Finalist (Two Graves, novella under her pen name Zoe Kalo).
2018 Shortlisted for the Dante Rossetti Awards for Young Adult Fiction (Chameleon, teen Caribbean gothic under her pen name Zoe Kalo)
2016 First Place Winner – International Latino Book Awards under Best Latino Focused Nonfiction Book Category (Latina Authors and Their Muses, anthology)
2015 Eric Hoffer Awards Finalist for Young Adult Fiction (The Luthier’s Apprentice, YA fantasy)
2014 Suspense Magazine’s “Best of 2014″ List (The Luthier’s Apprentice, YA fantasy)
2011 Foreword Best Book of the Year Award Winner (The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing, nonfiction)
2011 Global Ebooks Awards Winner (The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing, nonfiction)
2011 USA News National Best Book Award Finalist (The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing, nonfiction)
2011 EPIC Finalist (The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing, nonfiction)
2011 Next Generation Indie Book Award Finalist (The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing, nonfiction)
2011 International Book Awards Finalist (Frederico, the Mouse Violinist, picture book)
2009 EPIC Finalist (Humberto, the Bookworm Hamster, picture book)
2008 Dream Realm Award Finalist for Best Horror (Dark Lullaby, horror)
2007 ABC’s Children’s Picture Book Competition Finalist (The Doll Violinist, picture book)
2006 Writer’s Digest Writing Competition Honorable (The Doll Violinist, picture book)