Open Call for International Cavafy Summer School 2020

The International Cavafy Summer School is an annual scholarly initiative of the Cavafy Archive and the Onassis Foundation, focused on Cavafy, his work and archive, and that work’s impact in the world.

The International Cavafy Summer School was inaugurated in 2017 and aims to enrich and strengthen participants’ knowledge about Cavafy, pointing the way toward new directions and comparative approaches to the poet’s work. It also aims to encourage future collaborations and research, particularly between scholars who follow different methodological paths and are at different points in their careers. Past themes have been “Cavafy in the World,” “Cavafy and Antiquity,” and “Cavafy’s Orient/ations.” The theme for July 2020 will be “Cavafy Mediated,” inviting a focus on the myriad ways in which mediated forms and images of Cavafy’s work have shaped readers’ experiences of it.

All readers of Cavafy experience his work through mediated forms: through print volumes that give an editorial shape to his body of work; through translations; through ideas about the poet and his work shaped by scholarly and popular discourse; through poems and texts circulated online; through abbreviated forms quoted in newspapers and speeches, on buses and inspirational posters; through musical, filmic, artistic and literary adaptations and imitations that are shaped in response to Cavafy’s work, but also affect how we approach it. Even an encounter with the Cavafy Archive itself, in either its physical or digital form, is an inevitably mediated experience. This year’s International Cavafy Summer School will take the fact and consequences of mediation as the focal point of its discussions. Seminar participants are invited to focus on any of these many forms of mediation in their presentations, which can touch on theoretical or practical issues, ranging from the granular and specific to the broadly conceptual.

The International Cavafy Summer School 2020 will take place in the historic building of the Onassis Library, in the center of Athens. This year’s summer school will involve twelve participants meeting for six days of morning and afternoon sessions, 29 June- 4 July, with seminars led by the invited scholars as well as presentations of participants’ own work; seminar participants are expected to attend all sessions. This format encourages participants to engage in creative dialogue with one another, with the workshop leaders, and with the invited scholars, allowing fruitful conversations to develop over the six days of the school and beyond. Additional events may also be scheduled.

The International Cavafy Summer School 2020

Workshop leaders:
Michalis Chryssanthopoulos (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki) and Karen Emmerich (Princeton University)

Invited speakers:
Maria Boletsi (University of Amsterdam/Leiden University)
Adam Goldwyn (University of Münster/North Dakota State University)
David Ricks (King’s College London)
Bart Soethaert (Freie Universität Berlin)
William Stroebel (Princeton University)
Martha Vassiliadi (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)
Alexandra Rassidakis (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)

Thanks to the generous support of the Onassis Foundation and the Cavafy Archive, the International Cavafy Summer School is in a position to cover all room and board expenses for participants. In addition, there are no tuition charges or other fees. Participants can also apply for grants to cover their travel expenses in whole or in part.

• The working language of the International Cavafy Summer School will be English.
  
• Knowledge of modern Greek is not a requirement, though familiarity with Cavafy’s work is; this year’s Cavafy Summer School is particularly open to participants from a range of fields—including, but not limited to Modern Greek Studies, Comparative Literature, World Literature, Translation Studies, and the Digital Humanities.
  
• Ph.D. candidates, postdoctoral researchers, and early-career scholars with an interest in Cavafy are encouraged to apply, by sending:
  a) a cover letter that includes a brief outline of their current research and their motivation for participating in the International Summer School (max 500 words);
  b) a description of the particular topic they would like to develop in a 20-minute presentation during the International Summer School (max 300 words);
  c) a detailed C.V.; and
  d) contact information of an individual who could provide a reference letter in support of their application.
  
• In exceptional circumstances one or two graduate students at the Masters level may be accepted.
  
• Participants will be recorded and portions of their talks will be made public on the Onassis Foundation YouTube channel.
  
• The deadline for applications to the International Cavafy Summer School is 20 January 2020. Successful applicants will be informed at the end of February, and will be asked to submit a draft of their presentation ahead of time.
  
• Please send all relevant material, and address any questions, to Angeliki Mousiou at cavafyarchive@onassis.org