iris literary agency

Nikos Platis is renowned for the inventiveness and the originality of his subjects, the playfulness of his writings and his humour. According to Giorgos Frantzeskakis, his writing style resembles that of a scholarly inventor, since through his thematic dictionaries Platis “invented a new literary genre, just like before him someone invented the elegy, the sonnet and the Harlequin. In other words, he has invented a new genre of written speech” (Kathimerini daily).

He has written about 30 books, some of which have become best sellers, such as Kama Sootra: A major guide to marginality (13,000 copies, 1983) or the The Spicy Dictionary: a nearly wise book… (5 editions, 9,000 copies, 2003), and the Ual Sex Dictionary (6,500 copies, 2007).

For the last 20 years he has been well-known mostly for his thematic dictionaries (a mix of encyclopedic information, history, current affairs and subversive humour): “The lexicographer (Nikos Platis), with the wealth of experience he has amassed through his research, has acquired a vibrant ethos, extraordinary courtesy and a sort of humanitarian superiority” (Kostis Papagiorgis, LIFO).

His book Good bye Mr. Pap: a panic fiction (1975) is considered by some university researchers to be a reference book for the post-Junta transition crime fiction.

Under the general title The little fish of lake Kaloumba he wrote and illustrated 5 booklets, 5 adventurous stories for pre-school children.

He lives in Piraeus, where he was born (1951). He works in the field of advertisement as a creative copywriter. He does not drive, he is a die-hard walker.