Monday, May 3, 2010 at 7:00pm
New Russian Literature: A Bilingual Reading
The Gallery at (le) Poisson Rouge
158 Bleecker Street
Free. Please use the form below to RSVP.
*Note: This is a 21+ event.

Four Russian authors will visit the US this spring, giving American audiences an opportunity to become acquainted with vibrant new talents coming out of Russia’s literary scene.  During their visit, the writers will take part in the PEN World Voices Festival and give additional readings in New York City and Chapel Hill, NC.

Selected through a competitive nomination process, the group consists of poets Inga Kuznetsova, Pavel Nastin, and Natalia Sannikova, and prose writer Sergei Sokolovskiy.  On May 3rd, New Yorkers will have the chance to hear all four writers in person at the Gallery at (le) Poisson Rouge, where they will read selections from their latest works in Russian, with English translations read by New York-based poets John Coletti and Laura Sims. The reading will be followed by a Q&A and informal reception.

The authors represent different regions of Russia, including not only the nation’s capital but also Kaliningrad, its European exclave, and Kamensk-Uralsky, an industrial city in the Ural Mountains. Their work is equally diverse, ranging from metaphysical poetry to gritty short prose.  Yet despite their varied backgrounds, they are united by the shared experience of writing in post-Soviet Russia, where the tradeoff for a newfound freedom of speech is the challenge of artistic survival in an uncertain, profit-driven economic environment.

In addition to their appearance on May 3rd, the writers will participate in a number of readings and panel discussions as part of the PEN World Voices Festival, joining over 150 writers from 40 countries hosted by the festival this year.  They will also spend a week on residency at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from April 21st-28th before arriving in New York.  This will be the fifth year that the university partners with CEC ArtsLink to host such a group. Details about the writers’ additional appearances at the PEN World Voices Festival and in Chapel Hill can be found here.

The residency and readings are part of the Open World Cultural Leaders Program, an endeavor of the Open World Leadership Center at the Library of Congress with partnership and funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Event Flyer (PDF)

Press Release (PDF)

 

Advance RSVPs for this event are now closed. Doors open at 7pm. Additional tickets will be available at the door on a first-come, first-serve basis.