On the occasion of the completion of ninety years since the death of Constantine II. Cavafy, the Laboratory of Modern Greek Studies Myrsini Zorba of the Department of European, American, and Intercultural Studies, in collaboration with the language center of the University of Rome Sapienza and the National Library of Rome, organized a poetic meeting with the presentation of Cavafy poems in languages from different parts of the world.
The event entitled Kavafisattraversoleparoledeglialtri (Cavafy through the words of others) will take place on April 27, 2023, at the Auditorium of the National Library of Rome at 11am. The event will read 33 Cavafy poems in 21 different languages, which will be presented through seven thematic sections: Art, Polis, melancholy, history, experiences, body, and inclusion.
In Greek, the Kavafian texts will be read by actress and director Tatiana Lygari. In Italian, poets Elio Pecora and Marco Corsi, poet and editor of Cavafy in Italy Elisa Donzelli, as well as translator and scholar of Cavafy poetry Paola Maria Minucci.
Languages of reading Cavafy poems and readers:
Greek (Tatiana Lygari), Italian (Elio Pecora, Marco Corsi, Elisa Donzelli), English (Edward Lynch, Mary Wardle), Arabic (Sara Radi Ahmed), Bulgarian (Natalia Nyagolova), French (Tatiana Cescutti), German (Violet Schlossarek), Hebrew (Davide Lerner), Spanish (Patricia Toubes Gonzalez), Catalan (Isabel Turull), Croatian (Mihaela Lacko), Dutch (Suze Anja Verkade), Hungarian (Mekinda Mihalyi), Ukrainian (Olena Ponomareva), Polish (Monika Wozniak), Portuguese (Patrcia Ferreira), Romanian (Elvisionut Dobrin), Russian (Elena Nediakina), Serbian (Jelena Brbori), Turkish (Selen Çapacı) and Czech (Silvia Perrone).

 The purpose of this poetic meeting is:
– to highlight the pluralism of Cavafy poetry that stems from the work of translation.
– to present the creativity that resulted from Cavafy’s encounter with other languages, societies, cultures, and countries.
– to help re-evaluate the role of translation in the dissemination of the world’s cultures
– to sensitize teachers of Italian schools against Cavafy work and translation.
The event is accompanied by the publication of a volume entitled “Kavafisattraversoleparoledeglialtri” (Bulzonieditore, 2023), which includes the 33 kavafic poems in 21 languages that will be read at the event, as well as three original short texts on Cavafy and his work, signed by Elio Pecora, Marco Corsi, and Paola Maria Minucci.