Some writers arrive slowly. Others seem to enter literature already carrying a private urgency. Giorgos Palaistis belongs to the second kind. A young Greek writer with a growing body of work behind him, he writes in his own language, but moves through territories that feel larger than language alone. Silence, memory, inner tension, the dark pull of thought, the pressure of what remains unresolved. For Dark Jazz Radio, he speaks about writing, atmosphere, solitude, and the quiet force of the night.
Short Bio
Giorgos Palaistis is a Greek writer whose published work continues to grow in both range and intensity. Writing in Greek and building his literary path with consistency, he belongs to a younger generation of authors for whom writing feels less like ornament and more like necessity.
Interview
1. For readers discovering your work for the first time, who is Giorgos Palaistis as a writer?
I am an author who writes fantasy stories about Byzantium, horror stories with werewolves, mystery novels in NewYork, books with three young girls who solve terrifying mysteries and women’s books about social pathogenic phenomena. I have written seven books, one hundred short stories and I have received about 18 awards from numerous publishing houses and various literary contests, including UNESCO art, speech and science of Greece. My short stories have many topics, from genocide of people in Minor Asia from 1916 - 1922, mass graves in Minor Asia and Cyprus, stray animals, environment pollution, domestic violence, the fight for independence of Helllas in 1821, the Greco Italian war of 1940, the women of Pindus of 1940, Byzantium, social pathogenic phenomena, love, revenge, courage, the occupation of Cyprus in 1974 and people who fight against incurable diseases.
From the page bookpoint.gr a presentation of my books, short stories and awards : https://new.bookpoint.gr/contributors/1161995#all
From the page logotimis, some of my online short stories in Greek: https://www.logotimis.com/profile/60da3ab8-e01b-43be-b348-354308b28a0e20789/profile
2. You are a young but already very prolific author. What keeps bringing you back to the page?
The need to express my thoughts, about what troubles me, in writing.
3. When did writing stop being a personal impulse and become something necessary in your life?
From the first page I wrote, back in 2001. Although I was on a fallow ground, for about 22 years. Writing is also a type of psychotherapy for the author.
4. Your books are written in Greek. What does the Greek language allow you to express that feels essential to your voice?
The Greek language is very rich, offers a variety of feelings, a historical depth, a timeless value and a cultural heritage of centuries. It offers every writer a unique canvas for creation.
5. Do you begin with story, image, silence, or atmosphere?
I don’t have a certain way of writing. I start every story or book with a different beginning. I try to let my pen guide me.
6. How important is darkness in your work, not simply as mood, but as an inner space?
In a fantasy or mystery book I use darkness to hide the monster or the villain of the story. When my father died in age 92 from cancer, I didn’t wear bright colors for about five years. I think darkness means something different for everyone. Some fear the darkness others find comfort in pitch black. I am somewhere in the middle, with momentary visits, to the two sides of loving or fearing darkness.
7. What does the night mean to you as a writer? Is it a refuge, a pressure, a source of clarity, or something else?
The night hides danger, death but also unspeakable pleasures. Furthermore in the hours just before dawn, there is absolute quiet and a person can clearly listen to his inner thoughts.
8. Do solitude and memory shape the worlds you create?
I prefer to write while I have playing in my tablet, tv series as Castle, the Mentalist, Supernatural, Elementary, Fringe and Bones. Sometimes I even write in my mobile phone when I travel to nearby cities by bus. When I write stories based in historical facts, I use the collective memory stored in libraries.
9. Since you write so much, how do you protect your creative fire from repetition and exhaustion?
When I wrote my first book at age 19, I send it to one of the biggest publishing houses of Greece. I received a positive vote, a neutral and a negative. And the book wasn’t published. It was a teenager mystery book about 500 pages. At that time I thought that I could only write mystery books about teenagers. That happen at 2001. I started writing again at 2023. Now I try every book genre. Sometimes I succeed, sometimes I fail. But this time I keep walking and writing, keeping the flame of creation alive. Hope it doesn’t burn out.
10. When a reader closes one of your books, what do you hope remains inside them?
A thought that he read a good book or a good short story.
Hoped you enjoyed the interview and I wish you read some of my writings. Much obliged to Dominique Caulker and Dark Jazz Radio, for the interview.
Many thanks to Giorgos Palaistis for sharing a part of his inner world with Dark Jazz Radio.
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Read Also
Bibliography
- Georgios Palaistis, Pan selinos tis Lykainas stin Mikra Asia, Ekdoseis Sympantikes Diadromes, 2024.
- Georgios Palaistis, Alychtismata stin Venetia, Ekdoseis Sympantikes Diadromes, 2025.
- Georgios Palaistis, Synomosia stin Trapezounta 985 m.Ch., Ekdoseis Sympantikes Diadromes, 2025.
- Georgios Palaistis, Agnostou Mitros, Ekdoseis Sympantikes Diadromes, 2025.
- Georgios Palaistis, Ta Tria Dingo kai to Mystirio tou Opliti Fantasma, Ekdoseis Kefalos, 2025.
- Georgios Palaistis, Pan selinos stin Valia Kalnta, Ekdoseis Sympantikes Diadromes, 2025.
- Georgios Palaistis, 15 Gynaikes, 13 Istories, Ekdoseis Sympantikes Diadromes, 2025.