The ForsterÐCavafy Letters: Friends at a Slight Angle

The English novelist E.M. Forster and the GreekÐAlexandrian poet C.P. Cavafy met when Forster was working for the Red Cross in Alexandria during the First World War. Their subsequent correspondence bears witness to a complex relationship and serves as a fascinating testament to ForsterÕs relentless determination to promote Cavafy by bringing out an English translation of his work. The letters also chronicle CavafyÕs calculated refusal to comply fully with ForsterÕs plans. The story they tell involves a number of major twentieth century literary personalitiesÑArnold Toynbee, T.S. Eliot, T.E. Lawrence, and Leonard Woolf all participated in ForsterÕs early translation project. Forster ultimately succeeded in launching CavafyÕs reputation in the English-speaking world, setting an important precedent for his present global literary fame.
The volume includes all extant letters, the earliest Cavafy translations by George Valassopoulos (incorporating CavafyÕs own authorial emendations), poems by E.M. Forster, archival photographs, and related letters.