Alexis Stamatis was a Greek novelist, poet and playwright born in Athens. He studied Architecture at the National Technical University of Athens and pursued postgraduate studies in Architecture and Film in London.

He published a total of 22 books. His second novel, Bar Flaubert (Kedros, 2000), a critically acclaimed bestseller in Greece, was published in the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Serbia. It was also adapted into a screenplay by the author and director Vassilis Douvlis. American Fugue (Kastaniotis, 2006) was published in the United States by Etruscan Press in 2008, following an International Literature Award granted to the publisher by the US National Endowment for the Arts in 2007. Mother Ash (Kastaniotis, 2005) was published in the United States and Turkey. His first novel for children, Alkis and the Labyrinth (Kastaniotis, 2009), won first prize from the Greek Circle of Children’s Books.

His last novel, The Child and the Angel, was published by Metaichmio in March 2025. That same year, he returned to poetry with the collection The Illness of Simple Things (Kapa Publishing). He published seven poetry collections in total. His second collection, The Architecture of Interior Spaces, received the Nikiforos Vrettakos Poetry Prize from the City of Athens in 1994. Two collections of his poetry were published in English translation in the United Kingdom.

He wrote libretti for two musical works by composer Theo Abazis, performed at the Athens Concert Hall and Chora Theatre. In 2004, he participated in the University of Iowa’s International Writing Program through a Greek Fulbright Artists and Art Scholars Award.

His monologue The Last Martha was staged in 2004 as part of the Cultural Olympiad and again in 2008 at the Theatre of Kefallinias Street, directed by Vicky Georgiadou and performed by Christos Stergioglou. His diptych Genesis, comprising The Errand Boy and Mirror, was staged at Chora Theatre in 2009, directed by Avra Sidiropoulou and performed by Christos Stergioglou and Rinio Kyriazi.

His plays Tear Gas and Kill Your Darlings were staged at the Theatre of Kefallinias Street, directed by Aris Troupakis. Tear Gas was presented in 2010, with Nikos Arvanitis and Danai Papoutsi, while Kill Your Darlings featured Antonis Karystinos and Danai Papoutsi. His play Melissia was also presented as part of the National Theatre of Greece’s staged reading series.

In 2013, his one-act play Innerview was staged at the Purcell Room of London’s Southbank Centre, performed by Eva Simatou and Nikos Poursanidis. That same year, it was presented at the Michael Cacoyannis Foundation in Athens, directed by Lilly Meleme and performed by Eva Simatou, Nikos Arvanitis and Lazaros Vartanis.

His monologue Midnight in a Perfect World was staged at the Karolos Koun Art Theatre, directed by Aris Troupakis and performed by Nikos Arvanitis. In 2018, Corner World was presented under the direction of Aris Troupakis, with Nikos Alexiou and Nikos Arvanitis.

In 2019, Melissia was staged at the National Theatre of Greece, directed by Giorgos Paloumpis, with Betty Arvaniti, Nikos Arvanitis, Kostas Vasardanis, Maria Kehagioglou, Nefeli Kouri and Nikos Hatzopoulos. In September of the same year, The Blue Room was presented as a staged reading at the Karolos Koun Art Theatre, directed by Manos Karatzogiannis, as part of Analogio 2019.

In April 2013, he was one of four speakers at the event “Four Writers of the South Comment on the Crisis”, held at the European Union offices in Brussels.

PLAYS

Innerview, 2013
Midnight in a Perfect World, 2013
Melissia, 2012
Kill Your Darlings, 2012
Thalamos, 2011
Tear Gas, 2011
Dream a Little Dream of Me, 2010
Genesis (The Errand Boy and Mirror), 2009
The Last Martha, 2003
Look at Me, 2002