Cercignani's literary interests have at first been directed towards the poetry of Karl Krolow, with essays published in "Germanisch-Romanische Monatsschrift", "Literaturwissenschaftliches Jahrbuch", and other journals (1984-1986).
Since 1994 he has been editor also of "Studia theodisca" (), a periodical that accepts international essays on the literature of German-speaking countries.