Two Letters

Context and Commentary: I was fortunate to get to know George Economou and his work in the mid-1990s, while I was conducting research on Greek American poetry for my dissertation. At a time when the internet was not widely available in Greece, many of the poets I had contacted were kind enough to mail me their work and other material such as reviews and interviews so I could start building a small, but precious, archive. One of the first poets who responded to my request was George Economou. How encouraging it was for me, a new scholar, to receive not only poetry books dedicated to her but also to read in his letters that he found my research topic “fascinating and timely.” From then on, throughout our email exchanges, Economou always inquired about my progress, motivating me further to dig into the largely unmapped area of Greek American poetry. At a time when many scholars I met during the first steps of my research asked “Are there Greek American poets?” and “Is there such a thing as Greek American poetry?” Economou made me feel secure and happy in my decision to explore and analyze this area of American literature. For me, his support, his friendship, and his scholarly contribution will always be a real treasure.

Anastasia Stefanidou