James Galanis was born in Australia, the son of parents from Kythera and was taken to Greece in 1914. He returned to Australia permanently in 1924. His work was published mainly in English and occasionally in Greek. He completed primary school and three years of high school in Greece. In Australia he attended high school for several more years before working in a number of jobs including interpreting on P & O passenger ships. During WW II he served in the Australian army. After the war he went into business in Newcastle and then Sydney. He began writing during the war while serving in New Guinea, when he became friendly with writer Frank Hardy. He was a member of the Australian Society of Authors and the Australian Writers Guild.
