Daniel Mendelsohn was born in New York City in 1960 and educated at the University of Virginia and at Princeton. His essays and reviews appear frequently in The New York Review of Books, The New Yorker, Harper’s, and The New York Times. His books include the international best-seller The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million; a memoir, The Elusive Embrace; a translation of the complete poems of Cavafy; and two collections of essays and criticism, most recently Waiting for the Barbarians: Essays from the Classics to Pop Culture, which was shortlisted for the PEN Art of the Essay Award. He teaches at Bard College.
Daniel Mendelsohn
Articles by Daniel Mendelsohn
Wednesday December 4
Cavafy Transformed
Cavafy sometimes rewrote early published poems, and would publish the rewrite, so that we have both versions. The difference between the early work and its later incarnation opens a marvelous window into his creative process. The transformation of one poem in particular gives us a glimpse of something—well, extraordinary.