Meet the author: Billy Cotsis

Billy (Vasileios) Cotsis, a filmmaker and writer, was born in Sydney to parents from the island of Lesvos. He spent almost a year of his childhood in Greece. Upon entering university in 1995, he joined the well-organised and active Greek club, known as the Macquarie University Greek Association.

He spent the next four years learning more about and promoting his culture before making his way to Greece again in 1999. His love affair with Greece was rekindled. From that time onwards he has spent most of his spare time researching his Greek roots from Asia Minor and Lesvos, as well as becoming fascinated with the remnants of Greek settlements in countries around the globe. At last count, Billy had made his way to almost 70 countries and 80 Greek nisia.

A prolific writer, he has over 350 articles appearing in Greek media. Since 2012, he has written 17 short film and documentary projects, while also contributing to a blog that features all of his history articles. He has now also written or contributed to 6 published books.