The New Russian Poetry: Readings and an Open Discussion May 25, 2012

Part of the Festival of Russian Arts 2012.

Four acclaimed young poets of our Debut Prize demonstrate the variety and richness of contemporary Russian poetry. FEATURING:

Polina Barskova “One of the key figures in contemporary Russian poetry” (Dmitry Kuzmin, poet and critic). A child prodigy turned major poet, she is the author of seven books of poetry and the object of countless articles, reviews and interviews. Her third book of poetry in English translation is coming out in 2013. Polina “thinks of herself as a nomad or a Janus-like creature, looking simultaneously to her past and present habitats.” She now teaches Russian literature and culture at Hampshire College.

Eduard Lukoyanov A radical young poet who names among his influences James Joyce, Samuel Beckett and Vladimir Sorokin. He is the creator of and participant in any number of experimental poetic projects, one including computer-written poetry disseminated as the work of a fictional author… Lukoyanov claims to be “a member of several anti-soviet artistic collectives.”

Lev Oborin A highly influential young poet and critic. Born in 1987 in Moscow, he graduated from the Russian State University for the Humanities with a degree in philology. He is currently a graduate student there, studying Russian-British cultural ties. He was the founder of a web site dedicated to experimental poetry and a guitarist in an indie rock band. He is also a translator (poetry and essays from English into Russian).

Causa Artium is honored to welcome Alice Quinn as the moderator of THE NEW RUSSIAN POETRY. She is currently Executive Director of the Poetry Society of America and also a professor at Columbia University’s graduate School of the Arts. Ms. Quinn was, for two decades, the poetry editor at The New Yorker and for a decade at Alfred A. Knopf, Publishers. She is the editor of Edgar Allan Poe & The Juke-Box: Uncollected Poems, Drafts, and Fragments by Elizabeth Bishop. Her articles on and interviews with writers, poets, and artists have appeared in Artforum, the Canadian National Post, The Forward, Poetry Ireland, The New Yorker, and The New Yorker Online. At the moment she is at work editing the journals and notebooks of Elizabeth Bishop.

Introducing the evening will be Vitaly Pukhanov. Pukhanov is an enigmatic figure in Moscow poetry, a poet who has burst onto the scene several times, only to disappear just as unexpectedly. Part of that is his independence, as he belongs to none of the “schools” of poetry today. But he is a consistent presence in and observer of the literary scene, having been an editor at the crucial “October” journal and serving currently as the Executive Secretary our Executive Director.

Official Website: http://www.debutprize.com/ai1ec_event/the-new-russian-poetry-readings-and-an-open-discussion/?instance_id=132