C.P. Cavafy in the English and American Literary Scenes Authorizing the Other

"C.P. Cavafy in the English and American Literary Scenes: Authorizing the Other traces how the Greek-Alexandrian poet C.P. Cavafy achieved global recognition through the writings and advocacy of E. M. Forster, Lawrence Durrell, W. H. Auden, Joseph Brodsky, Stephen Spender, and James Merrill—writers who helped shape the 20th century English-language literary scene. Moving beyond conventional reception studies, the book introduces a model of reciprocal authorization: these influential writers propelled the steady rise of Cavafy's fame in England and America, and in the process reinforced their own identities as authors and cultural arbiters.

Cavafy's poetry intersected with Forster's modernist life writing, Durrell's cosmopolitanism, Auden's and Spender's post-war explorations, Brodsky's meditations on exile, and Merrill's queer aesthetics. Drawing on published works, correspondence, and previously unseen archival material, this book reveals so far unexplored aspects of the texts and personalities involved in Cavafy's legitimation across languages, genres, and historical contexts. It also presents these literary exchanges as a case study through which to rethink canon formation and transnational cultural validation.

Foteini Dimirouli, Research Fellow in English, University of Oxford

Dr Foteini Dimirouli is a Research Fellow in English at Keble College, University of Oxford, where she was previously an Early Career Development Fellow. She completed her BA (Athens) and MA (Durham) in English Studies, followed by a DPhil in Comparative Literature at Oxford, before holding a postdoctoral fellowship at the Seeger Center for Hellenic Studies at Princeton. Her research spans twentieth-century English and American literature, modern Greek studies, and the global reception of C.P. Cavafy. She has published on literary networks, Cold War cultural politics, and the intersections of literature, digital culture, and globalisation. Her work is comparative and has appeared in journals ranging from PMLA to the Journal of Modern Greek Studies.

Introduction: Cavafy in the World1. A 'Slight Angle' on the Staircase of Paradise: E. M. Forster 'Discovers' Cavafy2. The 'Old Poet' of The Alexandria Quartet and the European Writer in Exile3. Cavafy's Crossing of the Atlantic: The Mediation of W. H. Auden, Joseph Brodsky, and Stephen Spender4. James Merrill's 'Cavafy' and the Poetics of IntimacyConclusion: Traditional Prestige, Pop Culture, and Digital Celebrity