Nikos Gatsos was a Greek writer and poet.
He was born in Kato Asea (Chania Frankovrisis) in Arcadia, where he finished primary school (dimotiko). He attended high school (gymnasio) in Tripoli, where he became acquainted with literature and foreign languages. Afterwards, he moved to Athens, where he studied at the department of philosophy of the University of Athens. His knowledge of English and French was quite good and he was already familiar with Kostis Palamas, Dionysios Solomos, Greek folk songs, and recent trends in European poetry. In Athens, he came in contact with the literary circles of the day becoming one of the lifelong friends of fellow poet Odysseus Elytis and published his poems, small in extent and in a classic style, in the magazines Nea Estia (1931) and Rythmos (1933). During that period he also published criticism in Makedonikes Imeres (Μακεδονικές Ημέρες), Rythmos (Ρυθμός), and Nea Grammata (Νέα Γράμματα) (for Kostis Bastias, Myrtidiotissa, and Thrasos Kastanakis, respectively).
Ουδείς φανταζόταν ότι το καλοκαίρι του 1960 ένας «Επιτάφιος» θ’ άλλαζε ολόκληρο τον ρου της ιστορίας και της πορείας του ελληνικού τραγουδιού. Φαντάζομαι ούτε ο Μίκης Θεοδωράκης, ο οποίος είχε μελοποιήσει αυτό το συγκλονιστικό ποίημα του Γιάννη Ρίτσου κι ερχόμενος στην...