<description>&lt;p&gt;I first encountered Constantine Cavafy in Lawrence Durrell’s &lt;em&gt;Alexandria Quartet&lt;/em&gt;, where ‘the old poet’ represented the ghostly voice of the city.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I was immediately attracted to the dreamlike quality of his poems, and the way he captured a sense of melancholy that I’ve always felt.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Cavafy wrote about human desire, inglorious epochs of Greek history, and civilizations in decline, using plain factual descriptions undressed by metaphor.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;But how did a writer who showed little promise in his youth find a place in the literary canon and become ‘the poet of Alexandria’?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I’m joined by Gregory Jusdanis, co-author of &lt;em&gt;Constantine Cavafy: A New Biography&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;We spoke about Cavafy’s childhood of faded aristocratic grandeur, the Mediterranean Greek world he grew up in, and his lifelong poetic preoccupations.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Personal Landscapes relies on the support of listeners like you to keep going. Please consider joining my Member's Club on Substack &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.personallandscapespodcast.com/p/start-here"&gt;https://www.personallandscapespodcast.com/p/start-here&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;You’ll be supporting an independent ad-free podcast that publishes carefully curated conversations like this one, backed by decades of reading.Find me on: &lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.instagram.com/ryanmurdock.writer/"&gt;Instagram&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/@RyanMurdockRoadWisdom"&gt;YouTube&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a target="_blank" href="https://x.com/roadwisdom"&gt;X&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Follow my travels — and buy my books — on &lt;a target="_blank" href="http://ryanmurdock.com"&gt;ryanmurdock.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit &lt;a href="https://www.personallandscapespodcast.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&amp;#38;utm_campaign=CTA_2"&gt;www.personallandscapespodcast.com/subscribe&lt;/a&gt;</description>

Personal Landscapes

Ryan Murdock

Constantine Cavafy with biographer Gregory Jusdanis

NOV 11, 202573 MIN
Personal Landscapes

Constantine Cavafy with biographer Gregory Jusdanis

NOV 11, 202573 MIN

Description

<p>I first encountered Constantine Cavafy in Lawrence Durrell’s <em>Alexandria Quartet</em>, where ‘the old poet’ represented the ghostly voice of the city.</p><p>I was immediately attracted to the dreamlike quality of his poems, and the way he captured a sense of melancholy that I’ve always felt.</p><p>Cavafy wrote about human desire, inglorious epochs of Greek history, and civilizations in decline, using plain factual descriptions undressed by metaphor.</p><p>But how did a writer who showed little promise in his youth find a place in the literary canon and become ‘the poet of Alexandria’?</p><p>I’m joined by Gregory Jusdanis, co-author of <em>Constantine Cavafy: A New Biography</em>.</p><p>We spoke about Cavafy’s childhood of faded aristocratic grandeur, the Mediterranean Greek world he grew up in, and his lifelong poetic preoccupations.</p><p>Personal Landscapes relies on the support of listeners like you to keep going. Please consider joining my Member's Club on Substack <a target="_blank" href="https://www.personallandscapespodcast.com/p/start-here">https://www.personallandscapespodcast.com/p/start-here</a></p><p>You’ll be supporting an independent ad-free podcast that publishes carefully curated conversations like this one, backed by decades of reading.Find me on: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.instagram.com/ryanmurdock.writer/">Instagram</a></p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/@RyanMurdockRoadWisdom">YouTube</a></p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://x.com/roadwisdom">X</a></p><p>Follow my travels — and buy my books — on <a target="_blank" href="http://ryanmurdock.com">ryanmurdock.com</a></p><p></p> <br/><br/>This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://www.personallandscapespodcast.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_2">www.personallandscapespodcast.com/subscribe</a>