A week in New York for Read Russia and BookExpo America generated enough
material for several posts… but I’m only going to write one, so please ask away
if you have questions. A few things:
Favorite personal
things: Seeing Margarita
Khemlin, whom I’ve translated. First I heard her speak as part of a Read
Russia program, “The Search for the New ‘Hero of Our Time,’” with Igor Sakhnovsky
and moderator Keith Gessen,
then we wandered… It was also a treat to hear Polina Barskova,
with whom I share an interest in Konstantin Vaginov, recite poetry at a reading
with Dmitry
Bykov, Eugene
Ostashevsky, Alexei Tsvetkov,
and moderator/emcee Ann Kjellberg
on the last night of Read Russia events. Polina’s words and voice complement
each other beautifully…
Favorite new word
thing: In a panel called “Uncensored: New Language for a New Century,” Alexander
Ilichevsky mentioned that his grandmother, who came to the Apsheron Peninsula from
Stravropol and accumulated an unusual vocabulary, would cool bath water for him when he
was little, saying she was going to расстрастить (rasstrastit’) the water, make it less страстная (strastnaia), or passionate for
him. (Ilichevsky tells the story online here.)…
Favorite reread
thing: Dmitry
Danilov, author of Горизонтальное положение (Horizontal Position), gave me a copy of
his book after I told him I’d read it in the journal version (previous
post). I don’t often reread but the book was perfect after long New York
days (and evenings), knowing that Danilov’s character was also always about ready
to lie down and go to sleep. And yes, the actual book version does read better than the journal
version, perhaps because the additional detail give the story a touch more
humor and depth, like a funny mention of Russian hockey players in the NHL that
appealed to my hockey side…
Biggest
disappointment things: I was very sorry that Vladimir
Makanin couldn’t come to New York: he was refused a visa. Not only have I
loved some of Makanin’s books—his short novels Escape Hatch and The Long
Road Ahead (previous
post) are big favorites—but Makanin is one of the reasons I began writing this
blog. The short version of the story is that I started the blog because of the
dearth of online English-language information about Makanin. A blog seemed easier
to maintain than a Web site, so here I am… Another disappointment: Mikhail
Gigolashvili also didn’t come…
Favorite roof thing: The
wonderfully overstuffed Read Russia schedule included a series of evening-into-late-night
“roof” events in the lounge and on the roof of the Dream Hotel… I hadn’t
planned to go to any of them (so late!) but of course I did, a good thing
because the weather was perfect for a languorous sit outside. And I enjoyed
talking with Anya Ulinich, author of Petropolis (previous
post). Anya doesn’t just write: she’s working on a graphic novel that you
can watch develop, online, here.
I also heard a bit of Psoy
Korolenko’s performance though I don’t remember a single thing about it. Except
Pushkin. The day was long, the hour was late!...
A few other things:
An exhibit of experimental art
from Russian children’s books from 1881-1939, curated by designer Vladimir
Semenikhin, was colorful retro (hmm, can retro go that far back?) fun… the
apparent merger of Russian publishers Eksmo and AST, following spring announcements
of financial difficulties at AST, came up in a panel discussion about Russian
publishing and in conversations with writers; here’s an article by Liza Novikova, whom I
was very happy to meet in NY… drinking Champagne in the early afternoon, even in
good company and in celebration of Pushkin’s birthday, isn’t such a great idea,
at least for me… we’ll be reworking the focus of the Read Russia site this
summer, away from events that are now in the past; more on that later…
Up next: Zakhar
Prilepin’s The Black Monkey, which I
finally have the time to appreciate.
Image credit:
Read Russia colleague Jack Brighton.
Disclaimers and
disclosures: 1) I worked on Read Russia preparations during spring 2012 and
traveled to New York as part of Read Russia. This post contains my personal
opinions and may not reflect the opinions, views, or preferences of organizations
or individuals involved in Read Russia. 2) This is patently
obvious because of my translation and writing work, but I feel compelled to
mention it yet again because of blogger disclosure expectations: I have met and/or have
professional and/or personal relationships with many of the people and
organizations mentioned in this post. I have discussed literature in
translation, including (on various levels of involvement) actual submissions, with publishers
mentioned. Here’s my
standard disclaimer/disclosure statement about all that. Also: Open Letter
sent me a review copy of Maidenhair.
I sent a spare copy of St. Petersburg
Noir to another blogger for review.
he was refused a visa
ReplyDeleteWhat the hell?? This country is really cutting itself off from the world. I can sort of understand not letting Iranian filmmakers come here, if I put myself in the mindset of a paranoid functionary, but this is just ridiculous.
What the hell??
ReplyDeleteI know... I just don't get it.
all of it sounds wonderful! the children's art especially, I love old story books for those images...would be interesting to compare.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you were super busy...get some rest! Maybe we can read Maidenhair together (but it sounds like you already read it last year?). Or the Noir book?
Yes, the children's art was a lot of fun, especially when a friend was telling me how she remembered certain books from childhood.
DeleteI'll probably read the Noir book soon... I loved Maidenhair but am definitely not ready to read it again, particularly because I have a couple other Shishkin books that are waiting for me, unread!