About Karen
KAREN ESSEX is a national and international bestselling author, speaker, screenwriter, and cultural commentator whose work explores women, power, history, glamour, ambition, and reinvention.
Her latest historical novels include Run, Darling, the untold story of the glamorous Gabor sisters’ escape from Nazi-occupied Europe and rise to celebrity, and Renaissance Rivals, set amid the art, intrigue, and dangerous ambitions of Renaissance Italy.
She is also the author of the internationally bestselling Leonardo’s Swans, winner of Italy’s Premio Roma for foreign fiction; Stealing Athena; Dracula in Love; and the acclaimed two-volume biographical epic Kleopatra and Pharaoh. Her novels have been published in 29 languages, and she is a regular commentator on documentaries about women in history and the Elgin Marbles.
In January 2027, Essex launches The Silk Rebellion, an epic dystopian romantasy series set in a future empire descended from Cleopatra and Mark Antony, where fashion, surveillance, desire, and rebellion become instruments of power.
A sought-after speaker, Essex appears at universities, museums, libraries, literary festivals, private organizations, and cultural events around the country, speaking on subjects ranging from history’s powerful women to creativity, reinvention, publishing & entertainment, and the forces shaping contemporary culture.
Her screenwriting work includes projects for Netflix, James Cameron, Warner Bros., Sony, Paramount, Fox Studios, and Fox Television. A New Orleans native who has also lived in London, Paris, and Los Angeles, she now makes her home again in New Orleans.
“Karen is also a devoted mother and grandmother, an enthusiastic traveler, and considers her family the true superheroes in her life.”
