He began his career as a freelance journalist for Vore Damer (Our Ladies) writing under the American pseudonyms Lillian D. Green, Martin Arrowhead, and Joseph W. French.
Soya published his first book in 1923 – a collection of philosophical stories titled Kvinderne i Persien (The Women of Persia) – which revealed his satirical style and quickly earned him a reputation as a provocateur.
Then during World War II, in 1942, he wrote En Gæst (A Guest) another sharp satire aimed against the German occupation of Denmark, for which he received a 60-day prison sentence.
Soya was a prolific writer and published in a variety of forms including novels, short stories, poems, stage plays, teleplays and collections of aphorisms.
Several of his works have been adapted to screen including the 1965 coming-of-age sex comedy Sytten (Erik Soya's '17') and the 1948 romantic drama Jenny and the Soldier which won the Bodil Award for Best Danish Film.