Archive of desire : a poem in four parts for C.P. Cavafy / Robin Coste Lewis.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lewis, Robin Coste, Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Cavafy, Constantine, 1863-1933--Poetry.

Cavafy, Constantine.

American poetry--21st century.

American poetry.

Genre:

poetry.

Poetry.

Physical Description:

78 pages ; 25 cm

Edition:

First hardcover edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2025.

Summary:

"Robin Coste Lewis delivers a slim 'performance in four parts,' which originated as an actual sound performance with the composer Vijay Iyer, cellist Jeffrey Ziegler, and visual artist Julie Mehretu. With Lewis as the speaking voice, the quartet reflected on desire, diaspora, and the liminal spaces where art asserts itself, ignited by their encounters with Cavafy's archive in the heart of Athens. Robin weaves in and out of Cavafy's rooms, notebooks, and the suppressed erotic need underpinning his work, conversing directly with him: 'often you/ reminded us/ the only true // barbarians/ are the ones raging in silence / inside // of our own / minds.' But she brings equal parts of herself to this study of artistry and sensuality, as in the short, tender section entitled 'Cavafy in Compton: Self-Portrait at 16.' As in all Robin's works, she reaches across centuries here to express what is timeless and not bound by our current moment or our single selves: the discipline and glory of art, the give and take of love, the kiss that lives in the moment, the unfolding journey of being human whose contours only become clear with the passage of time, the igniting of memory, and the words we find to describe the journey"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

I. Handkerchief

II. Cavafy in fragments : an erasure

III. Cavafy in Compton : self-portrait at 16 / A translation of Konstatin Kavafy's "I was asking about the quality"

IV. She held a dove whose tail survives : self-portrait as the Acropolis

v. Epilogue

Notes:

"A Borzoi book"--Title page verso.

Other Format:

Online version Lewis, Robin Coste Archive of desire

ISBN:

9781524732608

1524732605

OCLC:

1484603806