RUSSIAN LITERATURE WEEK 2015
Read Russia is pleased to announce the launch of RUSSIAN LITERATURE WEEK 2015, the second in an annual series of live and online events and publications every December celebrating & promoting the translation of classic & contemporary Russian literature into English.
Described more formally as “a celebration of Russian literature in translation featuring distinguished authors, translators, editors, publishers, journalists, filmmakers, broadcasters, & arts, education, and cultural institutions,” RUSSIAN LITERATURE WEEK 2015 will celebrate & promote in particular new translations of Russian literature and new film and online initiatives about Russian literature and book culture from publishers and producers large and small.
RUSSIAN LITERATURE WEEK 2015 will run December 7-11, 2015, and include readings, panel presentations, roundtables, discussions, plus online events & film screenings. Leading authors, publishers, & translators will preside over our New York City events.
MONDAY, DECEMBER 7
4:00 – 5:30 PM
Eugene Vodolazkin, author, on his new novel LAURUS and his research in Old Russian
NYU Jordan Center for the Advanced Study of Russia
New York University
19 University Place, 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10003
Eugene Vodolazkin presents Laurus, his first novel to be translated into English, and talks about the relationship between his personal writing and his work in Old Russian Literature, folklore, and medieval history — two worlds he never thought would collide. He will also discuss why interest in medieval history and literature is experiencing a resurgence. Laurus tells the story of a late-15th-century Russian village healer, devastated by the death of his beloved in childbirth, who embarks on a journey of redemption that brings him face-to-face with a host of eccentric characters and legendary creatures from bizarre medieval bestiaries. The novel won both the Yasnaya Polyana Award and the Big Book Award when it was first published in Russian in 2012, and it has been compared to both Umberto Eco’s writing and The Canterbury Tales.
Co-sponsored by the Institute of Literary Translation
RSVP
6:00 – 8:00 PM
Vladimir Sharov, author, BEFORE AND DURING, in conversation with Oliver Ready, 2015 READ RUSSIA PRIZE laureate, translator, and fellow, St. Antony’s College, Oxford, and Dmitry Bak, Director, Russian’s State Museum for Literature
Soho House
29-35 Ninth Ave
New York, NY 10014
A lively discussion about literature, translation, and Russia’s literary traditions between prizewinning novelist Vladimir Sharov, celebrated translator and Oxford University fellow Oliver Ready, and Dmitry Bak, Director of Russia’s State Museum for Literature.
Co-sponsored by the Institute of Literary Translation
RSVP
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8
6:00 – 8:00 PM
The Real Story of Doctor Zhivago
Peter Finn, author and Washington Post National Security Editor, and Marian Schwartz, translator
Poets House
10 River Terrace
New York, NY 10282
An intimate conversation about Boris Pasternak, his prose, and his poetry – between Peter Finn, journalist and the author of The Zhivago Affair: The Kremlin, the CIA, and the Battle over a Forbidden Book, and Marian Schwartz, one of Russian literature’s leading translators.
This event is made possible through Poets House's Literary Partners Program
Co-sponsored by Russia Beyond the Headlines & the Russian Library
RSVP
7:00 – 8:30 PM
THE DOCUMENTARY NOVEL (in Russian) – Leonid Yuzefovich, author – interviewed by Vadim Yarmolinets, author
InfoCommons Lab
Brooklyn Public Library/Central Library
10 Grand Army Plaza
Brooklyn, NY 11238
An in-depth conversation with Leonid Yuzefovich, one of Russia’s leading authors, led by journalist and fiction writer Vadim Yarmolinets.
Co-sponsored by the Brooklyn Public Library
RSVP
7:00 – 9:00 PM
Eugene Vodolazkin and translator Lisa Hayden in conversation about LAURUS
BookCourt
163 Court St
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Eugene Vodolazkin discusses Laurus, his first novel to appear in English, with the book's translator, Lisa Hayden.
Laurus tells the story of a late-15th-century Russian village healer, devastated by the death of his beloved in childbirth, who embarks on a journey of redemption that brings him face-to-face with a host of eccentric characters and legendary creatures from bizarre medieval bestiaries. The novel won both the Yasnaya Polyana Award and the Big Book Award when it was first published in Russian in 2012, and it has been compared to both Umberto Eco’s writing and The Canterbury Tales.
Co-sponsored by the Institute of Literary Translation, the Bridge Series, and the PEN America Translation Committee
RSVP
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9
6:30 – 8:30 PM
RUSSIA’S 2015 YEAR OF RUSSIAN LITERATURE: A CELEBRATION (INVITATION ONLY)
Featuring Dmitry Petrov, host, “Polyglot,” Kultura TV
Consulate General
Russian Federation
9 East 91st Street
New York, NY 10128
RECEPTION TO FOLLOW
A celebration of Russia’s 2015 YEAR OF RUSSIAN LITERATURE and the future of literature in translation – featuring the host of Russia’s television program “Polyglot” and leading stars of the Russian literary world. Reception to follow.
Co-sponsored by the Renova Group of Companies and the Renova Fort Ross Foundation
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 10
7:00 – 8:30 PM
LITERATURE, LANGUAGE, HISTORY & TIME (in Russian)
Vladimir Sharov, author; Evgeny Vodolazkin, author; and Dmitry Petrov, host and producer of “Polyglot” on Kultura TV – moderated by author and translator Lisa Hayden
Dweck Center
Brooklyn Public Library/Central Library
10 Grand Army Plaza
Brooklyn, NY 11238
A broad-ranging discussion with authors Vladimir Sharov and Eugene Vodolazkin and the host and producer of Kultura TV's “Polyglot” Dmitry Petrov. The conversation will touch on changes in language in Sharov and Vodolazkin's representations of history and time, as well as specific challenges for translators. Moderated by Lisa Hayden, translator and blogger on contemporary Russian fiction.
Co-sponsored by the Brooklyn Public Library
RSVP
6:00 – 8:00 PM
“Solzhenitsyn: The Untranslated Oeuvre”
Peter Constantine, translator; Marian Schwartz, translator; other speakers TBD
Book Culture
536 West 112th Street
New York, NY 10025
RECEPTION TO FOLLOW
A deep dive into Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s unpublished works – now being translated and soon to appear in print in English! Additional speakers TBD.
Co-sponsored by the Kennan Institute, Russia Beyond the Headlines & the Russian Library
RSVP
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11
12:00 – 2:00 PM
RUSSIAN LIBRARY – Editorial Advisory Meeting (INVITATION ONLY)
Columbia University Press
61 West 62nd Street
New York, NY 10023
Co-sponsored by the Russian Library
6:00 – 8:00 PM
THE RUSSIAN NOBEL LAUREATES: On the works of Ivan Bunin, Mikhail Sholokhov, Boris Pasternak, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Joseph Brodsky, and Svetlana Alexievitch
Antonina W. Bouis, translator; Solomon Volkov, author; Stephanie Sandler, Harvard University; and Peter Constantine, translator
The Grolier Club
47 East 60th Street
New York, NY 10022
RECEPTION TO FOLLOW
A closing night celebration of Russia’s Nobel Prize laureates in literature – with their translators and biographers. Featuring Antonina W. Bouis, translator; Solomon Volkov, author; Stephanie Sandler, Harvard University; and Peter Constantine, translator.
Co-sponsored by the Renova Group of Companies, the Renova Fort Ross Foundation, and the Russian Library
RSVP
FEATURED ONLINE FILM FOR RUSSIAN LITERATURE WEEK – 2015!
“Pushkin is Our Everything”
pushkinfilm.com
Online on VHX, Vimeo, and YouTube
Pushkin Is Our Everything is a documentary film in which Michael Beckelhimer goes on a journey through Russia to find out how Russia’s most famous 19th-century poet became contemporary Russia’s supreme national icon – and how he’s helping Russia today.
The documentary is a revealing jaunt through history, from Pushkin’s fatal duel in 1837 to the fall of the Romanov empire through the communist period. At each of these points, Pushkin rose higher and higher on the pedestal of Russian culture.