Perfect Order

Selected Poems 1974-2010

Vayenas Nasos

"The Perfect Order" is the first extensive selection of Nasos Vayenas's poems to appear in English. Spanning thirty-six years from 1974 to 2010, it covers every phase of his long and varied writing career – from the first registrations of his poetic voice, then as a leading member of the "Generation of the Seventies", to his latest series of deeply felt, witty and urbane sonnets in honour of writers whom he loves, including Byron, Borges, Eliot, Cavafy and Seferis. Also included are samples of his theoretical and critical writings, which provide both a foil and a context to his poems. The book is introduced by the distinguished Hellenist David Ricks of King's College, London.

About the Author

Nasos Vayenas was awarded the Greek National Poetry Prize in 2005. He was born in 1945 in the northern Greek town of Drama, and studied at the universities of Athens, Rome, Essex and Cambridge, where he wrote his acclaimed thesis on George Seferis, published in Greek in 1979. Since 1992 he has been Professor of Literary Theory and Criticism at the University of Athens, where he lives.

As well as his eleven collections of poetry, he is the author of a number of critical books and works on literary theory. He has also edited the anthology "Conversing with Cavafy" (2000).

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