KONSTANTINOS P. KAVAFIS, The Poetic Alphabet, 30.5E

Edited by Elena LAZĂR and Liviu FRANGA
Introductory study by Liviu FRANGA
Epilogue by Jacques BOUCHARD
 Illustrations selected from the works of painter Gheorghe I. ANGHEL
ISBN 978-973-8319-77-6

In 2011 Omonia Publishers celebrated twenty years of activity with a volume of poems by Konstantinos P. Kavafis, the author with whom they started. With several volumes printed here, among which two are bilingual, Kavafis has become a real emblem of Omonia
The latest volume is a novelty and, as far as we know, it is unique among Kavafis’ published works. The twenty-four poems (one for each letter of the neo-Greek alphabet) are the necessary steps to enter the poetic world created by Kavafis. The selection of the poems was intended to offer the readers everywhere an introduction to the essence of the poetic universe of the poet who lived in Alexandria, to enable them to follow, step by step, the original poetic thinking and the main themes. Each original poem is printed alongside eleven translations, in the three big European language groups: Romanic, Germanic and Slavic (represented by Russian). Most original is the translation into Latin. An European edition by the selection of the original linguistic element and from the ethno-geographical point of view, of communication, The Poetic Alphabet has, in fact, a world dimension when we realize that some of the selected languages (English, French. Spanish, Portuguese) cover the cultural area of far-away continents.
The pertinent introductory study by Prof. Liviu Franga of the University of Bucharest, who is also the translator of the “alphabet” into Latin, as well as the epilogue signed by Prof. Jacques Bouchard from the University of Montreal, author of the French version, offer the Romanian reader the necessary means to approach the personality and work of the most commented, the most fascinating and, equally, the most enigmatic of the Greek poets.
More than a hundred illustrations are signed by painter Gheorghe I. Anghel, recipient of a prize of the French Academy, who found in Kavafis’ poems a permanent source of inspiration.
The beautiful layout is by Anca Anghel Coller.
Last, but not least, the publishing of this volume, which aspires to the title of the most beautiful volume of a Greek author, would have been impossible without the enthusiastic support of Mrs Ekaterini Sofianou, Chairperson of the SofMedica Companies Group, related by family to Egypt and to Alexandria, the native town of the poet. Mrs Ekaterini Sofianou is one of the most constant promoters of Kavafis and of the Greek literature in Romania in general.