“In an Old Book” | C. P. Cavafy and the Art of Reading

Over two days, renowned and young researchers from the fields of Modern Greek Studies, Literature, Book History, and Cultural Studies will discuss issues of reading theory, the reception of Cavafy as a reader, and readings of the poet himself, shedding light on Cavafy’s library and the history of reading from various perspectives.

The meeting will conclude on Thursday, 3rd of April, with the presentation of the new book, “Cavafy in his time: 32 Texts” (Opportuna Publishing, 2025), edited by Takis Kayalis, Professor of Modern Greek Literature at the Hellenic Open University. The publication records the proceedings of the scientific conference “Cavafy in his time,” which was held in Athens in October 2023 by the Hellenic Open University and the Cavafy Archive of the Onassis Foundation.

Wednesday April 2, 18:00

Laboratory of Archival Documents and Press, Central Library, 2nd floor

• Katerina Kostiou, Professor of Modern Greek Literature, University of Patras, “Reading the ‘Alexiad’”
• Alexandros Katsigiannis, Assistant Professor of Modern Greek Literature, University of Crete, “From Erotokritos to Valaoritis: Cavafy and early modern Greek poetry through his archive and library”
• Dimitra Razaki, PhD in Modern Greek Literature, University of Athens, “Cavafy’s library and the metrics of his poetry: Non-intersecting routes”
• Filippos Pappas, Lecturer of Modern Greek Literature, Hellenic Open University, “Scholarly and popular (older and newer, literary and non-literary) Greek-language books of the Cavafy library: Evidence for the publishing landscape of a city and an era”

Discussion moderation, commentary, and interventions:

Christina Dounia, Professor Emeritus of Modern Greek Literature, University of Athens

Takis Kayalis, Professor of Modern Greek Literature, Vice Rector of the Hellenic Open University

Giannis Papatheodorou, Professor Emeritus of Modern Greek Literature, University of Athens

Thursday, April 3, 10:30 a.m.

Hotel “Byzantino,” mezzanine conference room, 106 Riga Feraiou Street

• Paraskevi-Nektaria Simantoni, PhD in Modern Greek Literature, University of Athens, “‘Arcades ambo’”: The contribution of C. P. Cavafy’s brothers to the collection of his library”
• Martha Vassiliadi, Associate Professor of Modern Greek Literature, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, “The medical Cavafy: Reading traces and epistolary testimonies”
• Melina Tzortzi, PhD student in Modern Greek Literature, Hellenic Open University, “Readings, connotations, correlations: From Cavafy’s library to the critical discussion of his work”
• Eleni Papargyriou, Assistant Professor of Modern Greek Literature, University of Patras, “C. P. Cavafy as a reader of images”

Discussion moderation, commentary, and interventions:

Christina Dounia, Professor Emeritus of Modern Greek Literature, University of Athens

Takis Kayalis, Professor of Modern Greek Literature, Vice Rector of the Hellenic Open University

Giannis Papatheodorou, Associate Professor of Modern Greek Literature, University of Patras

Presentation of the book: Takis Kayalis (ed.), “Cavafy in his time: 32 Texts,” Patras: Opportuna Publishing, 2025