Born in Texas and raised in the Central Savannah River Area (CSRA) of Georgia, USA, Christina E. Petrides lived and worked in Washington, DC (2003-2013), and on Jeju Island, Republic of Korea (2017-2023), before returning to the CSRA and the greater DC area.

Her first children's book, Blueberry Man, was published in 2020 by Tchaikovsky Family Books (Jeju Island, South Korea). 블루베리 맨, the Korean translation of Blueberry Man, was published in 2021. Christina’s second children’s book, The Refrigerator Ghost, was first published in Korean translation as 냉장고 유령 by Kong Books (Seoul, South Korea) in 2022. Christina and Tchaikovsky Family Books collaborated again on her third children’s book, Tea Cakes, Quilts, and Sonshine (할머니의 사랑 레시피), issued in Fall 2022.

In late 2023, The Refrigerator Ghost (in English) became the first book published by Cep Books. Christina’s fourth children’s book, Mr. Fisher’s Whiskers, was the second book published by Cep Books, issued in mid-2024.

Christina’s fifth children’s book, My Batty Aunt Betty, was illustrated by Sarah Hodgkiss (the same illustrator who created the pictures for The Refrigerator Ghost), and is slated for publication by Cep Books in May 2026; copies should arrive in the US in the summer.

Grisha: A Soviet Cat, Christina’s sixth children’s book, is the first of a five-book series about the adventures of a rescue cat in the 1980s Soviet Union. Inspired by cats and people Christina met while studying and traveling in Ukraine and Russia, the series aims to pique interest in the history of that region and to show that people can choose to act compassionately despite challenging circumstances. Proceeds from the sales of the Grisha stories will be donated to a charity working with widows, orphans, and wounded Ukrainian soldiers in Kyiv.

Scores of Christina’s poems have been published in English by periodicals (online and print) around the world since she began writing verse in 2018; a handful have been translated into Russian. In late 2022, Kelsay Books (USA) published On Unfirm Terrain, Christina’s first book-length volume of verse (a collection of previously-published pieces augmented by new work). In 2025, Kelsay Books issued Christina’s second poetry collection, The Laughing Calvinist.

While she was enrolled in the Russian history doctoral program at Georgetown University, Christina served as the primary translator (alongside the author) of Maria Shelyakhovskaya’s Being Grounded in Love: A History of One Russian Family, 1872-1981. Being Grounded in Love was published in 2023 by Three String Books, an imprint of Slavica Publishers (USA).

Christina continues to create stories for children, update her Substack (writing for adults), and conduct independent historical research. In particular, she is currently revising her 180,000-word journal about her 1995 undergraduate trip to St. Petersburg, Russia; her 2001 International Studies MA thesis (University of South Carolina) about the World War II-era plunder of cultural valuables in light of events in the Baltic States and Ukraine; and her maternal grandfather’s memoirs. Christina also freelances as a Russian-English translator and as an editor (particularly for books and essays in English by writers who primarily speak other languages).

Christina periodically updates her Amazon.com author page and Goodreads.com author page with her latest books. Her website is: www.christinaepetrides.com.