Maria Papas has completed a Master of Creative Arts, producing a manuscript which was longlisted for the Australian/Vogel Literary Award and shortlisted for the TAG Hungerford Award. She has been a tutor at Curtin University, and studied for a PhD at the University of Western Australia. In 2011 Maria Papas's play Arbour Day was performed at His Majesty's Theatre in Perth, where it won the Maj Monologues Competition.