“If I have to pick one story that most influenced 'The Hunger Games,' it would be the Greek myth of Theseus, which I read when I was about 8 years old. In punishment for past deeds, Athens periodically had to send seven youths and seven maidens to a labyrinth. In the maze was this Minotaur, and it would eat them.”

American author and television writer

Suzanne Collins is an American author and television writer. She is best known for writing the young adult dystopian series The Hunger Games. She also wrote The Underland Chronicles, a children’s fantasy series. Her work is closely associated with fiction for younger readers, especially stories set in imagined worlds shaped by conflict, survival, and power.