Novelist & Art Historian
Catherine V. Olien
Virginia/Washington D.C.
Catherine Olien's writing is shaped by her years spent in libraries, archives, and museum galleries in Paris, London, and Berlin. A specialist of ancient Greece, Cyprus, and the Near East, she is interested in debates surrounding cultural heritage, including who owns the past and how it continues to shape the present.
An art historian by training, she embraced creative work after a spiritual awakening, and has explored shifts in her faith, politics, and identity through her fiction. Her work interrogates Millennial relationship dynamics (including "situationships" and hook-up culture) and their downstream effects, explores shifts in personhood following motherhood, and considers interpersonal conflict and estrangement resulting from political extremism on the American right and left. Her speculative fiction imagines alternate lives and futures for celebrated ancient works of art like the Parthenon Marbles.
novels
The debut- will it be realism or speculative fiction?
Catherine is querying two complete manuscripts and actively seeking representation for publication.
The first, RACHEL AND RILEY, follows two childhood best friends with opposing politics from 2016 to 2026. We follow their journeys through their 20s and 30s, as their lives take increasingly divergent paths. Set primarily in Wisconsin and partially narrated by the girls' mothers and lovers, the novel explores how our morals and convictions are shaped by where we live and who we love. The book captures the complexity of love and loyalty in a close female friendship unfolding in our charged political era.
(Upmarket fiction; 78,000 words)
The second, MUSEUM OF THE BLIND, is a sophisticated art mystery that imagines a future in which the Parthenon Marbles, currently (and controversially) scattered across seven European museums, are reunited in Athens. A sweeping saga with a rich cast of characters--including archaeologists, curators, hit men, and nuns--the novel tackles serious themes (repatriation, imperialism, nationalism, and more) gently, inviting readers with a range of views to enjoy the ride.
(Literary mystery; 107,000 words)
Both manuscripts are available to literary agents, editors, and publishers upon request.
From the Interviewer’s Chair
Evenings with an Author
As programs manager of the American Library in Paris from 2018 to 2021, Catherine produced the Library’s signature series, moving it online and moderating the conversations herself when the pandemic hit.
Evenings with an Author · 2020
Elaine Sciolino
Author and longtime Paris correspondent of The New York Times
Evenings with an Author · 2020
Whitney Scharer
Novelist, author of The Age of Light
Evenings with an Author · 2020
Mark Braude
Historian and biographer
Notes
Recent
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2025
“Exploring the Legacy of Imperialist Logic,” her essay on the historiography of Cypriot sculpture, appears in Empire and Excavation (Sidestone Press). Read the chapter.
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2024–25
Moderated author panels at Fall for the Book, the literary festival at George Mason University. See the festival.
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Ongoing
Reviewer for Lit Society™ by Bond & Grace, the literary membership from the publisher of the Art Novel™.
Paris, plus chien.
Catherine posts daily on Instagram. You'll find pictures of her adventures with her dog, her daughters, and reviews of what she's reading.