The Children of 1917

Catherine Ciepiela

CATHERINE CIEPIELA is a scholar and translator of Russian poetry who teaches at Amherst College. She is the author of The Same Solitude (Cornell 2006), a study of Marina Tsvetaeva’s epistolary romance with Boris Pasternak; co-editor, with Honor Moore, of The Stray Dog Cabaret (NYRB 2007), an anthology of poems by the Russian modernists in Paul Schmidt’s translations; and editor of the forthcoming anthology Relocations: Three Contemporary Women Poets (Polina Barskova, Anna Glazova, Maria Stepanova). Her translations of poetry by Polina Barskova and Marina Tsvetaeva have appeared in The Massachusetts Review, The Common, The Nation, Seneca Review and elsewhere, and she was awarded a Joseph Brodsky/Stephen Spender Prize for her translation of a poem by Barskova.

Yulia Yuzik

Yulia Yuzik is a journalist and writer and the author of Brides of Allah, a book on Chechen female suicide bombers, which has been published in 10 countries, as well as Beslan Dictionary, which has been published in France, Italy and Germany. She has been working in the Caucasus for over 10 years and has written for GQ and Foreign Policy, on Chechnya, the Caucasus and terrorism. She is currently working on a book that is at once a collection of travel notes and a look at the mechanism whereby suicide bombers are created. It will describe in detail the methods that terrorists use to transform normal individuals into suicide bombers.

Ludmila Ulitskaya

Ludmila Ulitskaya is one of Russia’s leading contemporary writers. Trained as a biologist, she started writing short stories and screenplays in the late 1980s. In 2001, she became the first woman to win the Russian Booker Prize. Her 2015 novel Jacob’s Ladder combines fiction, autobiography and materials from a family archive. Her works have received numerous literary awards in France and Italy, and in 2014 she became an Officer of France’s Legion of Honor.

Aigerim Tazhi

AIGERIM TAZHI’s first book of poetry, “BOG-O-SLOV” (“THEO-LOG-IAN”), was published in 2003. She has received numerous literary prizes in Kazakhstan and Russia for poems in the collection. Her work has been translated into English, French, and Armenian, and published in prominent literary magazines, including Druzhba Narodov, Novaya Yunost, Apollinariy and Words Without Borders. She was one of the creators of a project of literary installations, “The Visible Poetry,” in 2009. In 2011 she was a finalist for the prestigious Debut Prize in poetry. Tazhi lives in Almaty, Kazakhstan. 

Marina Stepnova

Marina Stepnova is an acclaimed prose and script writer. Her debut novel, The Surgeon (2005), was nominated for the National Bestseller Prize. Her 2011 novel, The Women of Lazarus, became an unprecedented publishing success with literary critics and the public at large; it went on to receive the Big Book Award and became a finalist for the National Bestseller Prize, the Russian Booker Prize and numerous literary awards. Stepnova is currently editor-in-chief of the men’s magazine XXL. She lives with her family in Moscow, where she is at work on her next novel.

J. Kates

J. KATES is a poet, literary translator and the president and co-director of Zephyr Press, a non-profit press focusing on contemporary works in translation from Russia, Eastern Europe and Asia. He has received several writing and translation fellowships, and has published three books of his own poems. He is the translator of The Score of the Game and An Offshoot of Sense by Tatiana Shcherbina; Say Thank You and Level with Us by Mikhail Aizenberg; When a Poet Sees a Chestnut Tree and Secret Wars by Jean-Pierre Rosnay; Corinthian Copper by Regina Derieva; Live by Fire by Aleksey Porvin; and Genrikh Sapgir’s Psalms. Kates is the translation editor of Contemporary Russian Poetry, and the editor of In the Grip of Strange Thoughts: Russian Poetry in a New Era.

Lisa Hayden

LISA HAYDEN is a translator and writer who lives outside Portland, Maine. Her translations have appeared in Two Lines and Subtropics, as well as anthologies published by Glas and Read Russia. Her blog, Lizok’s Bookshelf, focuses on contemporary Russian fiction. Lisa received an MA in Russian literature and lived in Moscow during 1992-1998.

Polly Gannon

POLLY GANNON is a teacher and translator who has been living in St. Petersburg for 16 years. She is the translator of Max Frei’s The Stranger series for The Overlook Press and of Andrei Bitov’s The Symmetry Teacher for Farrar, Straus and Geroux. She is currently at work on Lilianna Lungina’s Podstrochnik, forthcoming from Word for Word press.

Sibelan Forrester

SIBELAN FORRESTER is Professor of Russian Language and Literature at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania. She has published numerous poetic translations from Russian, including works of Elena Ignatova and Maria Stepanova and folktales about Baba Yaga; her translation of Vladimir Propp’s book, The Russian Folktale (Wayne State University Press) appeared in 2013.

Joy Neumeyer

JOY NEUMEYER grew up in Lynchburg, Virginia and attended Brown University. After first coming to Moscow on a Fulbright grant, she spent several years there working as a journalist, writing about food, art, death, history, literature and pigeons. She is currently a PhD student in Soviet history at the University of California, Berkeley.

Polina Klyukina

Polina Klyukina was born in Perm in 1986. Her short stories first appeared in Novy Mir in 2009, garnering her that year’s Debut Prize for young Russian authors. In addition to her two collections of short stories, her work has appeared in the anthology Squaring the Circle: Short Stories by Winners of the Debut Prize, compiled by Olga Slavnikova and published in 2010 by Glas. She currently lives in Moscow, where she works as a web editor and correspondent for Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

Thomas Oles

THOMAS OLES holds degrees in landscape architecture, urban and regional planning, and Slavic languages and literatures. He has practiced as a landscape architect and urban designer in New York, Boston, San Francisco, and Amsterdam. He currently teaches landscape architecture at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.

Tony Bowden

Eugenia Sokolskaya

EUGENIA SOKOLSKAYA came to the United States from Russia when she was four. In addition to a normal public-school education, she also received extensive instruction in Russian literature, film, and history from her parents. She is now a graduate of Swarthmore College and a freelance translator. In 2011, she was short-listed for the Rossica Young Translators Award.

Kenneth Lantz

KENNETH LANTZ is Professor Emeritus of Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of Toronto and a specialist in nineteenth-century Russian literature. He is the author of The Dostoevsky Encyclopedia (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2004). His translation of Dostoevsky's Writer's Diary was awarded the AATSEEL Translation Prize for 1993.

Sarah Young

SARAH YOUNG is a lecturer in Russian at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London. She previously held posts at the University of Toronto and the University of Nottingham. She is the author of Dostoevsky's 'The Idiot' and the Ethical Foundations of Narrative, and co-editor of em>Dostoevsky on the Threshold of Other Worlds. Her current projects expand her research on Dostoyevsky into new areas: she is writing a study of Russian labor camp narratives, and developing a literary cartography project, Mapping St Petersburg (mappingpetersburg.org). She blogs about her research and teaching at sarahjyoung.com.

Sergei Ershov

SERGEI ERSHOV was born and raised in Moscow. Like many photographers, he got his start with a cheap film camera that he received as an early birthday present. He has been seriously developing his photographic hobby since 2005; his day job is in a large IT company in the capital. He specializes in cityscapes and landscape photography, seeking to capture a thought, a moment, an interesting composition of light. While he prefers to shoot in Russia, he frequently travels with his camera to Europe and the Far East. He blogs online at sergey-ershov.livejournal.com. He is the featured photographer for the 2014 Russian Life Wall Calendar.

Sergei Komarov

Sergei Komarov prefers to remain anonymous.

Alexander Terekhov

Alexander Terekhov was born in June 1966 in the provincial town of Tula, just south of Moscow. After graduating in journalism from Moscow State University, he was conscripted and served in the Soviet Union’s Internal Security Forces. After the army Terekhov worked as a reporter for the cultural sections of the journals Ogonek and Stolitsa, and then in various editorial positions. At the same time, he began to win acclaim for his literary dissection of military life and his depiction of the chaos that perestroika had ushered in across provincial Russia.

William Richardson

William Richardson (1743-1814) was a Scottish classicist and literary scholar. His talent for languages led to employment as a tutor to Lord Charles Cathcart’s two sons. When Cathcart was appointed ambassador to Russia in 1768, Richardson travelled to Russia with the family. During these travels he described Russia through a series of letters, published in 1784 under the title Anecdotes of the Russian Empire.

Andrei Bely

Andrei Bely (1880-1934), born Boris Nikolayevich Bugayev, lived in Moscow and became a novelist, poet, and literary theorist and critic. Vladimir Nabokov ranked Bely’s Petersburg one of the four best novels of the twentieth century. Bely’s prose and poetry were deeply influenced by both his theoretical constructs and, unusually, empirical analysis of his own and others’ work. Bely lived and worked in both tsarist and Bolshevik Russia, and, like many of his contemporaries, spent some years traveling and living in Europe.

Sigismund von Herberstein

Sigismund von Herberstein (1486-1566) was a Carniolan diplomat, writer, historian and member of the Holy Roman Empire Imperial Council. He was sent to Russia twice (in 1517 and 1526) as ambassador of the Holy Roman Empire to arrange a truce and renew a treaty, respectively. His knowledge of Slovene allowed him to communicate with Russians. His ethnographic account of his time in Russia is one of the most extensive early European accounts of Russian life.

James Falen

James Falen is emeritus professor of Russian at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. His translation of Eugene Onegin is considered by many scholars and poets to be the finest interpretation of the work in English. He has also published a study of Isaac Babel, and has translated Pushkin’s dramatic works, a selection of Pushkin’s lyric poetry, Boris Pasternak’s My Sister Life, the Zhivago poems, as well as selected works by Akhmatova.

Nina Chordas

Nina Chordas is an Associate Professor of English at the University of Alaska Southeast, and also works as a freelance translator. She translated Poems by Georgi Ivanov, and a series of lectures on “Soviet Civilization” by visiting Russian writer Andrey Sinyavsky, among others. In collaboration with Simon Patterson and Julia Kent she has translated and edited four books published by Glagoslav Publications.

Dmitry Zverev

Dmitry Zverev was born in Moscow and is a member of the Russian Photographer’s Union. He has won the prestigious Silver Camera Award four times (2006, 2007, 2008, 2011) and the Best Photographer Award in 2010.

Daniel O’Carroll

Daniel O’Carroll is a pen name taken in honor of “a man of wonderful courage” by a grateful grand-nephew. Daniel O’Carroll taught both Irish language and mathematics for Dublin’s Jesuits. He was best known in Ireland for several “hair-breadth” escapes while working for the cause on Dublin’s Dorset Street. He later moved to Australia for health reasons, where he continued to pursue his lifelong interests in language and politics. He died of tuberculosis as a young man, on Christmas Day, 1924.

John Leafgren

John Leafgren earned a PhD in Slavic linguistics at the University of Virginia in 1992. He is now a professor teaching Russian language and linguistics at the University of Arizona, publishing research in the area of Bulgarian linguistics.

Michael Wagner

Michael Wagner worked as a physician before taking up a research career in biomedical informatics. Sanina and Wagner met by chance at a cafe a few years ago.

Mila Sanina

Mila Sanina is the social media editor at the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. She has worked at CNN International and the PBS NewsHour. Born and educated in Kazakhstan, she first experienced the United States in 2005 on a dairy farm in Chetek, Wisconsin, where she lived for a year as an exchange student sponsored by the U.S. State Department.

Simon Patterson

Simon Patterson was born in New Zealand, but has been living in St. Petersburg, Russia for more than 15 years. He gained degrees in Russian Literature at Auckland University and Victoria University. Since 2001 he has been working as a freelance translator from Russian into English and from German into English, translating feature and documentary film scripts, articles on modern Russian literature, and literary works.

Maria Bloshteyn

MARIA BLOSHTEYN emigrated from St. Petersburg with her family when she was eight years old and has always been fascinated with how different cultures interact and (mis)understand each other. She is a scholar of comparative literature and cultural studies with a special interest in Dostoyevsky’s impact on American literature (she authored The Making of a Counter-Culture Icon: Henry Miller’s Dostoyevsky). She is also a Russian-English translator (including Alexander Galich’s Dress Rehearsal) and lives in Toronto.

Nina Berberova

NINA BERBEROVA (1901-1993) a writer and memoirist, was married to Vladislav Khodasevich. She gained fame for her stories about the life of émigrés in the Boulogne-Billancourt suburb of Paris but remained little-known outside the Russian émigré community. In 1985 her work was rediscovered and her novels, stories, and memoirs were translated and published to great international acclaim.

Alexander Bakhrakh

ALEXANDER BAKHRAKH (1902-1985) was a journalist, critic, and memoirist who published widely in émigré journals and newspapers. During WWII he lived with Ivan Bunin, who sheltered him from the Nazis (Bakhrakh was Jewish). Bakhrakh worked in a pro-Soviet newspaper after the war, but in 15 the 1950s and 1960s worked for Radio Svoboda.

Yuri Annenkov

YURI ANNENKOV (1889-1974) was an artist, illustrator, set and costume designer in theater and cinema, and writer (he wrote under the pseudonym Boris Temiryazev). He is probably best known for his brilliant illustrations to Blok’s poem The Twelve, which amazed Blok when he first saw them, but he was also an extremely accomplished portraitist and graphic designer, associated with the The World of Art group. An art director for many experimental productions and performances, Annenkov designed costumes and sets for many plays back in Russia, and was nominated for an Oscar in costume design in 1953.

Georgy Adamovich

GEORGY ADAMOVICH (1892-1972) was a St. Petersburg poet who started out in Nikolay Gumilev’s Guild of Poets. He became one of the most important critics in emigration through the many regular articles he wrote for émigré newspapers and magazines. He was the chief proponent of the so-called “Parisian note” in émigré poetry. Among his critical targets were the young Nabokov and Marina Tsvetaeva. Adamovich was highly critical of his own poetry and published fewer than 140 poems during his lifetime.

Ivan Shmelyov

IVAN SHMELYOV (1873-1950) was a Russian novelist and short-story writer, with a devoutly religious worldview. After his only son was executed by the Reds for being a former White officer, Shmelyov emigrated to France. He published in a collaborationist journal during the war, but later rejected accusations that he was a Nazi sympathizer. Shmelyov made many pilgrimages to various Orthodox holy sites and wrote about them at length. His most famous novel The Sun of the Dead, about the Bolshevik terror and famine in the Crimea, was translated into thirteen languages and praised by Thomas Mann and Rudyard Kipling.

Temira Pachmuss

TEMIRA PACHMUSS (1927-2007) was a Professor of Slavic languages and literatures at the University of Illinois from 1961-99. She was born in Vask-Narva, Estonia, and educated in Germany, Australia, and the United States. She devoted her career to the work of Russian writers who fled the Soviet Union after the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 and took up residency all over the world. She is widely recognized for her work on Zinaida Gippius.

Irina Odoyevtseva

IRINA ODOYEVTSEVA (pseudonym of Iraida Heinike, 1895-1990) was a poet, writer, and memoirist, as well as muse of her husband, the poet Georgy Ivanov. She achieved fame as a poet when she was a student at Nikolai Gumilev’s second Guild of Poets. She had a carefully crafted public image as "a little poetess with a huge bow" who would come up on stage and, in a lisping voice, read brutal ballads about murder and starvation. She began writing prose in emigration, but is now remembered chiefly for her two books of closely observed and beautifully written memoirs about poets and writers of the Silver Age, first in St. Petersburg right after the Revolution (On the Banks of the Neva [1967]) and then in Paris, between the wars (On the Banks of the Seine [1981]). She began to write a third book of memoirs, On the Banks of Lethe, but died before she could complete it.

Vladimir Nabokov

VLADIMIR NABOKOV (1899-1977) is perhaps the best-known Russian-American author. His father was a member of the 1917 Provisional Government, which forced the family to flee to Crimea and then to Western Europe. Most famous for his novel Lolita, Nabokov wrote multiple highly acclaimed novels in English and in Russian, and went on to teach Russian poetry and literature. Early in his career he wrote under the pseudonym Vladimir Sirin.

Clare Kitson

CLARE KITSON came to translation late, having spent thirty years in cinema and television, while learning Russian in her spare time. She has written two books, notably Yuri Norstein and Tale of Tales: an Animator’s Journey, and translated from Russian a variety of art-related texts. Her translation of Dina Yafasova’s "Don’t Call Me a Victim!" (in collaboration with Melanie Moore) will be published in 2014.

Sergei Lukyanenko

SERGEI LUKYANENKO was born in Kazakhstan and educated as a psychiatrist. He began writing science fiction in the 1980s and has published over 25 books. The Watch series of novels excerpted in this issue have sold over 2 million copies worldwide and been published into 28 languages.

Maria Silina

Maria Silina is an art historian currently working as a research scientist at the Research Institute for Theory and History of Visual Arts of the Russian Academy of Arts in Moscow. She is particularly interested in Soviet art and urban space, as well as the issues of public memory of the Soviet Union. She has written for a number of academic and popular journals.

Boris Zaitsev

BORIS ZAITSEV (1881-1972) was a prolific writer, dramatist, and translator, considered by some to be the last surviving writer of the Silver Age. He knew Chekhov (who approved of his first stories) and was good friends with Bunin. He was the chairperson of the Russian émigré writers union in Paris for many years. He was deeply religious and his lyrical prose is imbued with a sense of a mystical-religious humanism, with which he counters the horrors of his times.

Maria Vega

MARIA VEGA (pseudonym of Maria Volyntseva, 1898-1980) was a poet, translator, and song writer whose cabaret song Black Moth became a hit in Russian émigré communities all over the world and exists in countless versions. Missing Russia more and more as she got older, Vega accepted Soviet citizenship and returned to the USSR, where she published several volumes of poetry before she died.

Nadezhda Teffi

NADEZHDA TEFFI (pseudonym of Nadezhda Lokhvitskaya, 1872-1952) was a literary superstar in pre-revolutionary Russia, whose witty, pointed, but unoffensive stories about the absurdities of life were memorized and quoted as soon as they were published, and whose legions of fans included all echelons of Russian society. In emigration she wrote about the many incongruities she observed in the Russian émigré community; these stories were pirated in Russia, where they were used to advance the thesis that the Russian émigrés were rotting away due to the emptiness and hopelessness of their lives. In response, Teffi wrote a public letter insisting that Soviets cease and desist; they did, but they also did not publish any of her stories at all for nearly fifty years.

Ilya Repin

ILYA REPIN (1844-1930) was a prolific artist of the Realist tradition. He was the most renowned Russian artist of the 19th century, when his position in the world of art was comparable to that of Leo Tolstoy in literature.

Anne Marie Jackson

Anne Marie Jackson lived in both Russia and Moldova in the 1990s. In Moldova, she was once shot dead by Chechen rebels in a Russian film. She studied translation at University College London and has since translated works by Maxim Osipov, Alexei Nikitin and Nadezhda Teffi, among others. She is the editor of Subtly Worded and Other Stories by Teffi, published by Pushkin Press in 2014.

Judith Hemschemeyer

Judith Hemschemeyer is a retired professor of English who has been writing about and translating Russian poetry for several decades. Her Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova (Zephyr Press, 1990) is widely considered the finest English translation of the great poet’s works.

Sergei Gorodetsky

SERGEI GORODETSKY (1884-1967) began his career as a Symbolist poet, working with themes drawn from Slavic folklore. In 1911 he rejected the mysticism of the Symbolists and, together with Nikolai Gumilyov, founded the Guild of Poets and the Acmeist movement. After the Revolution and Gumilyov’s arrest and execution, Gorodetsky repudiated his former friend and became a Soviet poet.

Ilya Ehrenburg

ILYA EHRENBURG (1891-1967), born to a Jewish family in Kiev, became involved in the Bolshevik movement as early as 1905, in the wake of the first Russian Revolution. After his arrest and brief imprisonment by the Tsarist Okhrana in 1908, he was exiled to Paris, where he continued his political work and began his literary career as a poet and journalist in Montparnasse. Upon returning to Russia after the October Revolution, he grew temporarily disillusioned with the Bolshevik cause, put off by the violence he saw around him. He eventually reconciled with the regime, but preferred to spend his time abroad as a “cultural ambassador.” His lasting literary contributions are the pessimistic satirical novels he wrote in the early 1920s, most notably The Extraordinary Adventures of Julia Jurenito and his Disciples (1922). He will also be remembered for his work – alongside Vasily Grossman and members of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee – on the Black Book, one of the first documents to chronicle the horrors of the Holocaust, and for his novel The Thaw (1954), which lent its name to the period of liberalization that followed Stalin’s death.

Robert Bowie

ROBERT BOWIE is professor emeritus of Russian at Miami University of Ohio. His translations of Ivan Bunin have been collected in Night of Denial: Stories and Novellas (Northwestern University Press, 2006).

Dorian Rottenberg

Dorian Rottenberg was a noted translator of Russian literature, specializing in the translation of poetry (particularly Mayakovsky) and children’s books.

James McGavran

James McGavran has taught Russian language and culture courses at Kenyon College, St. Olaf College, and Rutgers University, and he begins work as a lecturer in Russian at the University of Pennsylvania in the fall of 2014. His book of annotated translations of the poet Vladimir Mayakovsky, Selected Poems, is now available from Northwestern University Press, and he has also published articles and translations in Slavonica, Modern Poetry in Translation, and Slavic and East European Journal.

Kirill Levin

KIRILL LEVIN (1892-1980) was a Soviet Jewish author who fought in the First World War and was held prisoner at both Austro-Hungarian and German POW camps. His experiences at the front and in captivity provided material for a series of popular memoirs and “documentary novels” published in the 1920s and 1930s.

Gary Kern

GARY KERN earned his Ph.D. in Russian literature from Princeton University in 1969 and has taught Russian and world literature at the University of Rochester, the University of California, Riverside, and the University of Southern California. He has translated eight books from Russian, including Before Sunrise by Mikhail Zoshchenko (Ardis, 1974), The Education of a True Believer by Lev Kopelev (Harper & Row, 1980) and This I Cannot Forget: The Memoirs of Nikolai Bukharin’s Widow by Anna Larina (Norton, 1993). He is also the author of the critically acclaimed study The Kravchenko Case (Enigma Books, 2007), and A Death in Washington: Walter G. Krivitksy and the Stalin Terror (Enigma Books, 2003). He also wrote the play The Mad Kokoschka (1986), the memoirs Misfortune (1997), and Letters From Dwight (1998), all published by Xenos Books. His novel, The Last Snow Leopard (Ghost Dance, 1996), will soon be available from Xenos.

Valentin Katayev

Valentin Petrovich Katayev (1897-1986) was a novelist and playwright. He showed remarkable political savvy, penning both works that satirized Soviet bureaucracy and that glorified Soviet achievements throughout a career that was both long and prolific. He is credited with suggesting the idea of The Twelve Chairs (1927) to his brother Yevgeny Petrov and Ilya Ilf, the price of which was that all editions of the book had to be dedicated to him.

Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin

Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin (1878-1939), the son of a shoemaker, was a highly influential and important painter at the turn of the century. During his earlier years, he developed his "spherical perspective": a unique twist that distorted the drawing as to represent the viewer high enough to actually notice the spherical curve of the globe. He used it extensively through his works like Death of a Commissar and In the Line of Fire, which make the observer seem more distant, but actually close.

Avrahm Yarmolinsky

AVRAHM YARMOLINSKY (1890-1975) was born in what is now Ukraine and emigrated to the United States in 1913. He graduated from the City College of New York and earned his Ph.D. at Columbia University, later teaching Russian language and literature at both institutions, as well as heading the Slavonic Division of the New York Public Library. He wrote extensively on Russian literature and intellectual history, and translated many classics. He was the husband of poet Babette Deutsch, with whom he co-translated and co-edited anthologies of Russian and German poetry.

Donald C. Thompson

Donald C. Thompson (1884-1947) was an iconic, adventure-seeking war photographer born in Topeka, Kansas. He was the first American photographer at Verdun, and war journalist Edward Powell said of him that he had “more chilled-steel nerve than any man I know.” Thompson repeatedly risked his life to capture the war on still and movie film, before returning to the US to share his experiences and images in public lectures, bringing the horrors of the war to US audiences. He supplied most of the footage for a 1915 film, With the Russians at the Front., and War as it Really Is (1916) among others. In late 1916 Thompson was sent to Petrograd with Florence Harper to cover the Russian side of the war for Leslie’s Weekly when the February Revolution broke out. His photographs from 1917 are a stark and rich documentary of events. The photos in this issue are taken from his 1918 book covering that period, Blood-Stained Russia.

Nikolai Tikhonov

Nikolai Tikhonov (1896-1979) was born to petty tradesmen descended from serfs. Trained as a clerk, he volunteered for the army at the outbreak of WWI and served in the hussars, then served in the Red Army from 1918 to 1922. Devoting himself almost exclusively to writing and travel after 1922, Tikhonov became a founding member of the Serapion Brothers literary group, and was chair of the Union of Writers from 1944-46, a position from which he was dismissed by Stalin for being too tolerant of Zoshchenko and Akhmatova. He nonetheless remained influential in literary circles until his death.

Martin Parker

MARTIN PARKER first translated A Hero of Our Time in 1947. The work gained esteem for not being on Nabokov’s list of mistranslations of Lermontov’s novel.

Ivan Goncharov

IVAN GONCHAROV (1812-1891) was a writer, translator and, perhaps incongruously, a censor. He is best known for his three novels: A Common Story (1847), Oblomov (1859), and The Precipice (1869). He also wrote poems and theater criticism. Near the end of his life he wrote a memoir in which he accused other writers, especially Turgenev, of plagiarizing his works and thus keeping him from becoming as famous as he ought to have been. He was deeply admired by both Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky; Chekhov said that Goncharov was “ten heads above me in talent.”

Yevgeny Baratynsky

YEVGENY BARATYNSKY (1800-1844) was a poet of the Romantic period who was hailed by Alexander Pushkin as Russia’s finest elegiac poet. Baratynsky was coolly received by the public, however, for his emphasis on thought at the expense of the pathos that characterized poetry at the time – a disappointment that contributed to the intense personal and professional isolation he experienced toward the end of his life. Long obscured by Pushkin’s shadow, Baratynsky was rediscovered in the early twentieth century by the Russian Symbolists, who revered his work for its intellectual strength.

Ivan Aksakov

IVAN AKSAKOV (1823-1886) was a writer and journalist, the son of the far more famous writer and memoirist Sergei Aksakov, and son-in-law of the poet Fyodor Tyutchev. A noted Slavophile, Ivan fought in the Crimean War and later promoted Pan-Slavism during the Russo-Turkish War. There is a town in northeastern Bulgaria named for him.

A Z Foreman

A.Z. FOREMAN is a translator and interpreter. He has been obsessed with languages and literature since the age of 12. He is self-taught in many of the languages he translates, though he also holds a bachelors degree in linguistics from the University of Chicago, and a masters degree in Arabic from the University of Maryland. He blogs at poemsintranslation.blogspot.com

Natalia Kopaneva

Natalia Kopaneva took her degree in philology, but has mainly worked in the fields of history and museum studies. Presently a senior staffer at the Kunstkamera, her research work focuses mainly on the eighteenth century, with special emphasis on the history of the St. Petersburg Academy, the Kunstkamera, and connections between Russian science and culture with the West. She co-directed the exhibition Peter and Holland, which appeared in St. Petersburg and Amsterdam, and is a recipient of the Order of Orange-Nassau.

Lilianna Lungina

Liliana Lungina was a leading literary translator in the Soviet Union. She translated, among many authors, the works of Astrid Lindgren, August Stringerg, Henrik Ibsen, Henrich Boll, Knut Hamsun, and Boris Vian. The acclaimed director Oleg Dorman interviewed Lungina for a documentary film based on her life, which was released in 2009 and became one of the most popular television programs in Russian history. The documentary was then transcribed into a book, Podstrochnik, which was a bestseller, and which is has released in English by Overlook Press, under the title Word for Word.

Ivan Turgenev

IVAN TURGENEV (1818-1883) was a novelist, playwright and short story writer born in Oryol. He burst onto the literary scene with his short story collection, A Sportsman’s Sketches (1852), followed by Fathers and Sons (1862). Most of his later life he lived abroad (both to avoid the stifling rule of Nicholas I and to pursue his love of Pauline Viardot), and he had testy or difficult relationships with both Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy (who at one point challenged him to a duel). The Diary of a Superfluous Man was written while Turgenev was still in Russia. Rudin was written after his emigration.

Stephen Pearl

STEPHEN PEARL was a simultaneous interpreter at the United Nations for more than thirty years and was Chief of English Interpretation there for fifteen years. He is a graduate of St. John’s College, Oxford University with an M.A. in Classics. His translation of Oblomov was awarded the 2008 AATSEEL Prize for best translation from Slavic language to English.

Lydia Chukovskaya

Lydia Chukovskaya (1907-1996) was the daughter of Korney Chukovsky and an accomplished author in her on right, most notably for her novel Sofia Petrovna, a harrowing tale of life during the purges. She wrote very personal chronicles of the horrors of Soviet totalitarianism, to which she and her family had fallen victim in the 1930s, was a close friend and chronicler of Anna Akhmatova, and publicly defended persecuted dissidents like Aleksander Solzhenitsyn and Andrei Sakharov.

Vladimir Britanishsky

VLADIMIR BRITANISHSKY (b. 1933) is a Russian poet and prolific translator of American, British and Polish poetry (especially Zbigniew Herbert, Czeslaw Milosz and E. E. Cummings). His first poetry collection, published in 1958, was subsequently praised by Josef Brodsky. Britanishsky’s numerous publications over the last 15 years include From Whitman to Lowell, a collection of American poetry in Russian translation, and an anthology of twentieth century Polish poetry translated jointly with his wife.

Olga Bergholz

Olga Bergholz (1910-1975) was a poet and journalist who lived and worked in Leningrad. Her successful literary life was interrupted by family tragedies in the 1930s and imprisonment in 1938. Exonerated in 1939, she went on to become the voice of hope for Leningraders during the Siege, encouraging the starving city’s residents with her speeches and poetry.

Arseny Berezin

Arseny Berezin is a physicist, mathematician and nonfiction writer. His essays and memoirs about intellectual life in the Soviet Union have been published in Zvezda and Zarubezhnye Zapiski.

Konstantin Azadovsky

KONSTANTIN AZADOVSKY (b. 1941) is a literary scholar and translator known for his translations of German literature, particularly the works of Rainer Maria Rilke, and his scholarly work on the Russian Symbolists. During the 1980s Azadovsky was sentenced to two years of hard labor in Magadan after refusing to testify against a journalist, and was subsequently rehabilitated in 1989. He serves on the editorial boards of the journals Zvezda and New Literary Observer, directs the executive committee of the St. Petersburg PEN chapter, and has been a juror for the Russian Booker Prize.

Carol Ueland

Carol Ueland is a professor of Russian at Drew University whose research interests include twentieth-century Russian literature, women’s studies, poetry, and translation studies. She has translated two books of Alexander Kushner’s poetry, Apollo in the Snow (1991, reissue in 2015), and Apollo in the Grass (July 2015).

Evgenia Shcheglova

Evgenia Shcheglova was born in Leningrad in 1951 and has emerged as a leading literary critic in St. Petersburg. Her frequent essays and reviews of contemporary Russian literature have been published in many of the country’s leading journals, including Zvezda and Novy Mir. An active proponent of the literary community, Evgenia is a member of the Writers’ Union of St. Petersburg and serves as Chief Editor of publications at the Russian Institute of Art History.

Izrail Metter

Izrail Moiseyevich Metter (1909-1996) was a Leningrad poet and screenwriter who also taught mathematics. His writings and screenplays were noted for their truthful realism and his ability to show life as it really was. He worked for Leningrad radio during the Siege, and was one of the notable few who publicly stood in defense of Zoshchenko when he was being persecuted after the war.

KOBRA

KOBRA was the pen name of the journalists Konstantin Bogolyubov (pseudonym N. Konstantinov) and Yuli Sharo-Rest (pseudonym B. Rest), who published a series of satirical feuilletons during the 1930s in the newspaper Literary Leningrad. Though lesser known than their peers, Ilya Ilf and Evgeny Petrov, the duo produced a significant body of work that was eventually collected in The Tales of KOBRA, published in Leningrad in 1965. Bogolyubov was executed during the Great Purge in 1937, at the age of 32.

Lydia Ginzburg

Lydia Ginzburg (1902-1990) was an important literary critic and historian. A survivor of the Siege of Leningrad, she went on to author many seminal works of literary criticism, including studies of lyrical poetry and psychological prose. Her journals, which she began to write in the 1920s and kept for the next 60 years, did not begin to be printed and published until the late 1980s. Since then, Ginzburg has come under increasing study as a major Russian literary figure of the twentieth century.

Alexander Belyaev

Alexander Belyaev (1884-1942) was a leading figure in Soviet science fiction whose works from the 1920s and 1930s earned him the title of “Russia’s Jules Verne.” Belyaev wrote dozens of stories and 13 novels, including Professor Dowell’s Head and the well-known Amphibian Man, which were both later turned into films. He died of starvation in the occupied town of Pushkin, after refusing to evacuate while he was recovering from an operation.

Mikhail Ancharov

Mikhail Ancharov (1923-1990) was a writer, poet, and one of the first Soviet bards to pioneer the country’s singer-songwriting genre. After completing his studies in oriental languages at the Military Academy of the Red Army, he was sent to the Far Eastern front during World War II to serve as a Chinese translator. In the latter half of his life Ancharov became a prolific screenwriter, writing the screenplay for the first Soviet television serial “Day After Day.”

Alex Zaripov

Oleg Klimov

OLEG KLIMOV was trained as an astrophysicist, yet has been working as an acclaimed photographer and photojournalist since the break up of the USSR. He documented the Soviet collapse, as well as the wars in Chechnya and the Balkans, and is presently working on a project about Russia’s water borders, and on liberty.su, a documentary photography network on the territory of the former USSR.

Alexander Kushner

Alexander Kushner (b. 1936) is a poet from St. Petersburg who writes in classic, nineteenth century style. Josef Brodsky once called him “one of the best lyrical poets of the twentieth century.” He received the prestigious Pushkin Prize for poetry in 2001. Two of his many books of poetry have been translated into English and are published by Farrar Straus Giroux.

Kevin Reese

Kevin Reese is a lecturer in Russian language and literature at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill. He is currently working on a book about the role of astronomy and cosmology in the works of the Strugatsky brothers. His translations of excerpts from the Strugatskys’ Those Burdened by Evil and of Vladimir Savchenko’s story “Mixed-Up” will appear in the upcoming collection Red Star Tales, published by Russian Life Books.

Olga Larionova

Olga Larionova (b. 1935) is one of the leading Russian science fiction writers of her generation. She is known for her novel Leopards from the Heights of Kilimanjaro, as well as dozens of short stories, and even a “cosmic opera,” often imbued with strong female characters. In 1987 she received the Aelita Prize for the best Russian science fiction, one of only two female authors to ever win the award.

Yvonne Howell

Yvonne Howell is Professor of Russian and International Studies at the University of Richmond. She is the author of Apocalyptic Realism: The Science Fiction of Arkady and Boris Strugatsky (1994), as well as numerous chapters, articles, and translations. Her research centers on the question of how the relationship between scientific progress and humanistic thought is worked out differently in different cultures, with profound implications for national identity and state agendas. She is the editor of Red Star Tales: An Anthology of Russian and Soviet Science Fiction, published by Russian Life books in fall 2015.

Theo Elie

Theo Elie (pseudonym for Fyodor Ilyin) (1873-1959) was a scientist, medical doctor and author of one of the earliest works of Soviet science fiction, The Valley of New Life, published under the pen name Theo Elie. After losing his vision completely at age 65, Ilyin continued to give lectures, dictate new publications and practice medicine. His antiutopian themes have been described as predecessors to the ides in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World.

Sergei Drugal

Sergei Drugal (1927-2011) was born in Kazakhstan and trained as a railway engineer. It wasn’t until age 50 that he began to publish his first stories, combining his interests in ecology and pedagogy to create a series about a futuristic institute that perfects nature using the advancements of science. A recipient of the Aelita Prize for the best Russian work in the science fiction genre, Drugal’s writings have been translated into Polish, German and Hungarian. His story “Every Tree Has Its Bird” appears in the English-language anthology of Russian fantastical fiction Tower of Birds, published in 1989.

Kir Bulychev

Kir Bulychev (1934-2003) was the pen name of Igor Mozheiko, a prolific Soviet science fiction writer who wrote for adults and children alike. He spent his professional career as an expert on Burmese history at the Institute of Oriental Studies in Moscow, penning hundreds of novels and short stories on the side. The author of more than 20 scripts, Bulychev is the Russian science fiction author who has been most widely adapted to film.

Stanislav Rosin

STANISLAV ROSIN is a Russian-born illustrator and graphic artist who lives in Germany. He is a prolific and award-winning illustrator of science fiction literature. The black and white presentations of his illustrations inside this issue don’t do proper justice to his work, which features rich, vibrant colors and engrossing details. Be sure to visit his website at habitus.de.vu.

Muireann Maguire

Muireann MaguireRed Spectres: Russian Twentieth Century Gothic Tales (London: 2012 and New York: 2013), a collection of previously untranslated short stories by Mikhail Bulgakov, Aleksandr Grin, Sigizmund Krzhizhanovskii and others; and Before I Croak (Prezhde chem sdokhnu), a novel by the Debut Prize-winning author Anna Babiashkina, published by Glas.

Dalia Truskinovskaya

Dalia Truskinovskaya was born in Riga in 1951 and studied philology at the University of Latvia. Since the publication of her book of short stories, The Smell of Amber, in 1984, she has gone on to publish nearly a dozen novels and short story collections in the science fiction genre. She continues to live and work in Riga as a journalist and Russian-language author whose books enjoy great success in Russia.

J.M. Sidorova

J.M. Sidorova is a Russian-born American biomedical scientist and author of speculative fiction. Her debut novel, The Age of Ice (Scribner/Simon & Schuster), was published in 2013, and her short stories appeared in Clarkesworld, Asimov’s, Abyss and Apex, and other venues. She is a graduate of the prestigious Clarion West workshop for writers.

Vladimir Kovner

VLADIMIR KOVNER is an engineer, a journalist, and an English<>Russian translator and editor, specializing in poetry, bard songs, ballet and idioms. He and Lydia Stone have been collaborating since 2005. Vladimir was an active participant in the bard movement and his article The Golden Age of “Magnitizdat” is a classic discussion of this era in Soviet history. He has contributed numerous articles to collections about Bulat Okudzhava, in addition to writing on other literary topics for books and journals in both Russian and English. He has also published two books of poetic translation, Pet the Lion, 2010, and Edward Lear. The complete limericks with drawings, a bilingual English-Russian book (2015). He and Stone are completing work on an English-Russian idiom dictionary.

Oliver Ready

Sergei Zhuravlyov

Nadia Sablin

Nadia Sablin is a freelance photographer based in Brooklyn, New York. She won the Center for Documentary Studies/Honickman First Book Prize in Photography for her color photographs documenting time spent with her Russian aunts over seven summers, published in the Duke University Press book, Aunties.

Konstantin Dubkov

KONSTANTIN DUBKOV was born in the closed city of Chelyabinsk-65. He moved to Sverdlovsk (now known as Yekaterinburg) to study at the Sverdlovsk Art School named for Ivan Shadr, and later at the Ural State Academy of Architecture and Arts. He got his start drawing the children’s page for a local newspaper, quickly turning it into a comics page with regular characters. It was a turning point in his career as a comic strip artist and he continues to draw comics and do commercial work, particularly that which can have a social impact. His website is at dubkovke.com.

Keith Blasing

Keith Blasing became infatuated with Russian literature as a student at the University of Tennessee and pursued this infatuation to the PhD level at the University of Wisconsin. He wrote his dissertation on the works of Andrei Platonov and continues to be interested in the history and culture of the early Soviet period. He has translated a number of works by Platonov and other authors and works as a translator and editor based in Lexington, Kentucky.

Aleksandre Qazbegi

Aleksandre Qazbegi is one of Georgia’s most beloved and revered writers. He came of age in Khevi, a mountainous region of northern Georgia, near the border with what is now Russia’s North Caucasus. He was briefly educated in St. Petersburg, but failed to complete his university studies, due to his father’s sudden illness and family debts. When Qazbegi returned to Georgia after his studies in Russia, he began living the life of a shepherd (as narrated in “Notes of a Shepherd”) before he settled in Tbilisi, where he became Georgia’s first professional writer and the author of daring short stories and novellas that challenged conventional morality and criticized Georgian society.

Ralph Matlaw

Ralph Matlaw (1927-1990) edited many translations of Russian classics and taught at Harvard, Princeton, the University of Illinois, Urbana and at the University of Chicago.

Olga Koshansky-Oleinikov

Olga Koshansky-Oleinikov was a professor of Russian at the University of Illinois, Urbana.

Peter Constantine

Peter Constantine is a prolific translator from several languages into English. He was awarded the National Translation Award for The Undiscovered Chekhov: Thirty-Eight New Stories. His translation of the complete works of Isaac Babel received the Koret Jewish Literature Award and a National Jewish Book Award citation. He has also translated Gogol’s Taras Bulba and Tolstoy’s The Cossacks. He is a senior editor at Conjunctions.

Laurence Bogoslaw

Laurence Bogoslaw earned his Ph.D. in Slavic Languages from the University of Michigan in 1995. He has taught Russian language, literature, and translation courses at Gustavus Adolphus College, Macalester College, Hamline University, the University of Minnesota, and Century College. He directs the Minnesota Translation Laboratory, a translation and consulting service that he co-founded in 1996.

Isaac Babel

Isaac Babel (1894-1940) was a journalist, playwright, translator and short story writer whose works include the masterpieces Red Cavalry and The Odessa Tales. He was loyal to the communist party but did not restrain from criticizing it. As a result of his long-term affair with the wife of NKVD chief Nikolai Yezhov, Babel was arrested in 1939 and executed in a Soviet prison in 1940, after confessing falsely to being a foreign spy and Trotskyite.

José Vergara

José Vergara is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literature at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His current research focuses on the intertextual relations between James Joyce and Russian writers such as Vladimir Nabokov and Andrei Bitov. He has published articles on Yury Olesha and the Czech multilingual poet Ivan Blatný, as well as a book chapter on Daniil Kharms.

Boris Slutsky

Boris Slutsky (1919-1986) was a Ukrainian born poet who wrote in Russian. His experiences in World War II had a great impact on his coarse and conversational poetry, and he was one of the most important representatives of the “war generation” of Russian poets. Soon after Stalin’s death, verses that some attributed to Slutsky, and that were highly critical of Stalinism, circulated in samizdat. Slutsky never confirmed or denied his authorship.

Boris Poplavsky

Boris Poplavsky (1903-1935) was an émigré Russian poet. Both of his parents gave up music to support the family by going into business. The family fled Russia in 1919 for Ukraine (where Poplavsky read his first poetry) then moved on to Constantinople and Paris, where Poplavsky was very active in émigré culture while also continuing his education. He died of a drug poisoning along with an acquaintance, S. Yarkho, which has been variously called suicide and murder at the hands of the suicidal Yarkho, who wanted someone to accompany him to the other side.

Victor Pelevin

Victor Pelevin studied at Moscow’s Gorky Institute of Literature, and is one of the few novelists today who writes seriously about what is happening in contemporary Russia. His work has been translated into fifteen languages and his novels Omon Ra, The Life of Insects, The Clay Machine-Gun and Babylon, as well as two collections of short stories, have been published in English to great acclaim.

Julie Masis

Julie Masis is a freelance journalist whose stories have appeared in the Guardian, Christian Science Monitor, Globe and Mail, Boston Globe, Montreal Gazette, and on the Reuters news wire. In addition to Ukraine, she has reported from the US, Canada, Cambodia, China, Japan, Myanmar, Vietnam, and Moldova. She has also taught English to Buddhist monks and organized guided tours to the Khmer Rouge Tribunal. Her blog is online at juliemasis.wordpress.com

Álvaro Laiz

Álvaro Laiz is an award-winning photographer whose work focuses on realities ignored by mass media. He sees photography as a tool that allows civil society in post-conflict zones to be heard. His work has been published in The New York Times, Forbes, National Geographic, The Sunday Times and many others.

Marian Fell

Marian Fell was a prolific translator, particularly of the works of Chekhov, early in the twentieth century.

Vladimir Odoyevsky

VLADIMIR ODOYEVSKY (1803-1869) was a prominent philospher, writer, teacher, critic and philanthropist. He is best known today for his authorship of The Russian Nights (1844), a collection of writings that interlaced stories and novellas with philosophical conversations, yet he was also a renowned music critic.

Isabel Hapgood

Isabel Hapgood (1851-1928) was one of the earliest American translators of Russian literature into English. The daughter of a Boston inventor, she introduced Americans to the works of Tolstoy, Chekhov, Gogol, and others (including the French writer Victor Hugo), and to Russian epic songs. She also traveled to Russia frequently, did journalism, and knew Tolstoy personally. She was in Russia when the Bolshevik Revolution broke out and was one of the first to report on the murder of the Romanovs.

Vsevolod Garshin

VSEVOLOD GARSHIN (1855-1888) was a Russian short story author whose works were primarily based on his experiences of serving as a soldier and being wounded in the Russo-Turkish War. Despite achieving early literary recognition, Garshin suffered from mental illness and eventually died after a suicide attempt at the age of 33. His story “The Red Flower” is often placed within the canon of Russian asylum stories that include Gogol’s “Diary of a Madman” and Chekhov’s “Ward No. 6.”

Maxim Dmitriev

Maxim Dmitriev was born in 1858, in the village of Povalishno, Tambov Province, about 500 kilometers southeast of Moscow. Russia's first photojournalist, he made his career in Nizhny Novgorod, which now houses a museum honoring his life's work.

Evan Haddad

Evan Haddad is an American writer, teacher and dating expert living in Moscow. He has written for The Moscow Times about local culture and immigrant experiences in Russia.

From the Ends to the Beginning

TATIANA TULCHINSKY, ANDREW WATCHTEL and GWENAN WILBUR are translators for the online project From the Ends to the Beginning: A Bilingual Anthology of Russian Poetry, supported by the Department of Slavic Languages and Literature at Northwestern University. The aim of the project is to provide an intelligently chosen, well-translated, and comprehensive anthology of Russian poetry from its beginnings in the eighteenth century to the contemporary scene.

Roland Smith

ROLAND SMITH was a member of the British Embassy in Petrograd, or modern-day St. Petersburg, during the period shortly after the creation of the Soviet Union. His translated collection of short stories by Vsevolod Garshin, entitled The Signal and Other Stories, was published by by Duckworth and Company in 1915.

Elena Pedigo Clark

ELENA PEDIGO CLARK received an MA in Russian Translation from Columbia University and a Ph.D. in Slavic Languages and Literatures from UNC-Chapel Hill. She is currently Postdoctoral Fellow of Russian at Wake Forest University. Her research interests include translation, poetic form, and depictions of Finland in Russian literature. When not occupied with her day job, she writes Slavic-themed fiction; her debut novel, The Midnight Land, has recently been released.

Mikhail Lomonosov

Mikhail Lomonosov (1711-1765) was a physicist, chemist, astronomer and writer who is regarded as the leading figure of the Russian Enlightenment. After studying in Marburg, Germany, Lomonosov returned to Russia and became a strong proponent of developing higher education and scientific study in Russia. He went on to become a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and founded Moscow State University, which still bears his name. Lomonosov was also a poet whose writings influenced the development of the modern Russian literary language.

Alexander Levitsky

ALEXANDER LEVITSKY is Professor of Slavic Studies at Brown University, where he previously served as Chair of the Department of Slavic Languages, specializing in eighteenth century and modern Russian literature, Czech literature, and Slavic Baroque. A native of Prague, Czech Republic, he became a political refugee in 1964 and since then has lived and worked in the West. His publications include a study of Russian Fantasy entitled Worlds Apart (Overlook Press, 2007) and poetry translations in the Anthology of Czech Poetry (Ann Arbor, 1973). His new translations of Russia’s leading eighteenth century poet, Gavrila Derzhavin, and of Mikhail Lermontov appeared in the Penguin Anthology of Russian Poetry.

Alexander Lisafin

Sofony of Ryazan

Sofony of Ryazan was a boyar from Bryansk region who later became a priest and is the presumed author of the Zadonshchina.

Serge Zenkovsky

SERGE ZENKOVSKY (1907-1990) was Professor Emeritus of Slavic Civilization and Literatures at Vanderbilt University, having previously taught at Indiana University, Harvard University, Stetson University, the University of Colorado, the University of Wisconsin, and Heidelberg University (Germany). Born in Kiev to a prominent economist, Zenkovsky fled with his family after the Russian Revolution and studied in Paris and Prague before finally entering American academia in 1950. He is the author of numerous studies of Russian history and literature, and his pioneering anthology Medieval Russia’s Epics, Chronicles, and Tales (1963, 1st ed.) is required reading in Slavic doctoral programs. Shortly before his death, Zenkovsky, along with his wife, completed a translation of the five-volume Nikonian Chronicle, a monumental work compiled in sixteenth century Moscow that traces Russian history from its earliest beginnings in the ninth century through the year 1520.

Julia and Robin Whitby

JULIA & ROBIN WHITBY are freelance translators based in Great Britain.

Vladimir Berezin

Vladimir Berezin was born in Moscow and has degrees from Moscow State University (physics) and the Literature Institute. He worked for Ex Libris, a supplement to Nezavisimaya Gazeta, and Book Review newspaper. His fiction, criticism, and essays regularly appear in Russian literary and cultural periodicals. His works have been translated into English, German, French, Chinese, Polish, Serbian, and Norwegian.

Gleb Alexeyev

Gleb Alexeyev was born in Moscow in 1892 and wrote his first story when he was sixteen. He fought in the First World War as a pilot, and was wounded. During the Civil War, he was a homeless refugee and ended up abroad, but in 1923 returned to Russia, by which time he was already a famous author. He was arrested in 1938 and died in prison. He was rehabilitated after Stalin’s death and in 1961 a one-volume collection of his works was published, yet it did not include Underground Moscow.

Sarah Richardson

Sarah Richardson graduated from Davidson College with a degree in Political Science and Spanish.

David Stephenson

David Stephenson is a translator from Dutch and German who lives in North Carolina.

Irina Polyanskaya

Irina Polyanskaya was born in the family of a persecuted scientist who worked on secret nuclear projects in a Stalinist camp. She eventually graduated from the Gorky Institute of Literature, and gained public recognition as an actor, writer, and editor. The story in this volume was awarded the Yuri Kozakov Award for the Best Short Story of the Year in 2003.

Ivan Oshchepkov

Ivan OshChepkov is a philosopher and freelance photographer. A graduate of Moscow State University, he is now doing graduate work studying Ancient Greek philosophy, Plato and his later dialectic. He travels frequently around Russia, seeking through his photography to convey the uniqueness of all the places he visits. More of his images can be viewed online at: Flickr

Alexander Kosarev

Alexander Kosarev was born in Moscow and did his military service in Kamchatka and Vietnam, during the Vietnam War. He later graduated from the Mendeleev Chemistry and Technology University. His travels around the world inspired him to write many adventure novels; he is also a recognized authority on treasures buried during Napoleon’s invasion of Russia. Kosarev is the author of many books, including four children books, historical non-fiction, and adventure stories. Cardboard Stars is his memoir of the Vietnam War.

Oleg Korionov

Oleg Korionov was born in Samara and studied music very seriously until his parents diverted him to a different career path. He graduated with a degree in journalism from Moscow State University, and traveled the country as a newspaper reporter. He now lives in Moscow, from where he has traveled to many other countries, working for various communications agencies. He started writing stories in 2013. "Trash" was one of three pieces included in his debut publication in Russia, in 2016.

A.F.B. Clark

Professor A. F. B. Clark translated several works by Pushkin in the 1930s. He taught French in the University of British Columbia and was an authority on English-French literary relations in the eighteenth century.

Vladimir Dal

Vladimir Dal (1801-1872) was a renowned Russian language lexicographer who compiled the four-volume Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language (commonly known as “Dal’s Dictionary”), one of the founding dictionaries of the Russian language. The work was unique for including not only word entries but accompanying explanatory material on Russian everyday life, traditions, proverbs and beliefs.

Alexander Vygalov

Alexander Vygalov is a artist who lives and works in Yekaterinburg. His website is: piat.ru

Aylmer Maude

Aylmer Maude (1858-1938) was working in Moscow as director of the Anglo-Russian Carpet Company when he met and married Louise Maude (1855-1939), one of six children of the expatriate British businessman James Stewart Shanks, co-owner of a jewelry business and English store. The couple lived for many years in Moscow, became close friends with Leo Tolstoy, and spent the last 40 years of their lives translating and promoting his work from England. Tolstoy thought highly of the Maudes’ translations, saying better translators “could not be invented.”

Gerard Ledger

Gerard Ledger is a retired professor of classics. Much of his academic work focused on Plato (e.g. Re-counting Plato, Oxford University Press), yet he has had an interest in Russian literature since his early twenties, and labored for many years to improve his knowledge of Russian. He lives in Oxford, England.

Natalia Karelskaya

Natalia Karelskaya is a Moscow-based photographer and reporter. She works for the weekly magazine Bolshoy Gorod and business daily Vedomosti. Educated as a graphic designer, she has participated in several group shows in Moscow.

Maxim Gorky

Maxim Gorky (born Alexei Peshkov, 1868-1936) achieved acclaim for searing autobiographical fiction (The Lower Depths, 1902) that revealed the seamy side of Russian life. Long active in politics and staunchly anti-tsarist, he spent a good part of his life abroad, including after the Bolshevik Revolution, when he dissented with the new regime, and yet was lionized by it. Convinced by Stalin to return to the USSR in 1932, he was coopted to serve the dictator’s ends, and helped found Socialist Realism.

Vladimir Dobrovolsky

Vladimir N. Dobrovolsky (1856-1920) was an ethnographer, folklorist and lexicographer who is particularly known for his volume of studies on the language and traditions of his native Smolensk province. He was killed when a wagon that was giving him a ride through the Smolensk countryside came under fire.

Konstantin Makovsky

Konstantin Yegorovich Makovsky (1839-1915) was an influential Russian painter affiliated with the Peredvizhniki (Itinerant) movement. Many of his historical paintings, such as The Russian Bride's Attire (1889), showed an idealized view of Russian life of prior centuries. He is often considered a representative of a Salon art.

Galina Ulianova

Galina Ulianova is Senior Researcher at the Center for Studies in Russian History of the nineteenth Century (Institute of Russian History, Russian Academy of Sciences) and a member of the Advisory Committee of Russian Studies in History (USA). She has written several scholarly books on Russian history, including Female Entrepreneurs in Nineteenth-Century Russia; her articles appear in journals in the United States, Germany and Britain.

David Samoylov

David Samoylov (born David Samuilovich Kaufman, 1920-1990) was an important Russian poet of the post-war era who also translated from Estonian, Polish, Hungarian and Czech into Russian.

Olga Romanova

Olga Romanova is a renowned journalist and the executive director of the civil rights movement Russia Behind Bars (Rus’ Sidyaschaya). She became widely known in 1999-2005 for her analytical show on Ren-TV, 24 with Olga Romanova, followed by positions at Echo of Moscow radio, the newspapers Segodnya, Versiya, Vedomosti, and Novaya Gazeta, as well as The New Times and Slon Magazine. Her work as a human rights activist began after her husband was arrested in 2008 on politically motivated charges.

Ivan Rom-Lebedev

Ivan Rom-Lebedev (1903-1991) was perhaps the leading cultural figure of Roma background during the Soviet period. A virtuoso guitarist, actor and writer, Rom-Lebedev became a founding director of the Gypsy theater in Moscow, Romen, in 1931. He devoted the rest of his life to the theater and wrote several dozen plays, some of which are still staged.

Elizaveta Shkurina

Lotus Magazine

Isaac Goldberg

A.P. Paschkoff

Henry T. Schnittkind

Alison Rice

ALISON RICE has translated works by Bulgakov, Yuri Vetokhin and others.

Carl Proffer

CARL R. PROFFER (1938-1984) was an American publisher, professor, and translator of Russian literature. He was a renowned scholar and a major force in Russian-American literary relations from 1969 until his death. Together with his wife Ellendea Proffer, he was a founder of Ardis Publishing, the largest publishing house devoted to Russian literature outside of the Soviet Union, and co-editor of Russian Literature Triquarterly (1971–91). He also did numerous translations, and edited many anthologies of Russian writing.

Roger Cockrell

ROGER COCKRELL graduated from the University of London’s School of Slavonic and East European Studies and received his Ph.D from the University of Exeter. He is currently an Honorary Fellow in Russian and the University of Exeter. His publications include Russian Views of Pushkin (with David Richards), The Voice of A Giant: Essays on Seven Russian Prose Classics (with David Richards), The Exeter English-Russian Dictionary of Cultural Terms, and Bolshevik Ideology and Literature, 1917-1927. He translated Mikhail Bulgakov’s novels The Fatal Eggs and The White Guard.

Hugh Aplin

Hugh Aplin worked at the Universities of Leeds and St. Andrews before taking up his current post as Head of Russian at Westminster School, London. Among his many translations are Anton Chekhov’s The Story of a Nobody, Nikolai Gogol’s The Tales of Belkin, Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Notes From the Underground, Ivan Turgenev’s Faust, and Yevgeny Zamyatin’s We, all published by Hesperus Press.

Maria Gruzdeva

Maria Gruzdeva is a Russian-born documentary photographer.

Mikhail Gerasimov

MIKHAIL GERASIMOV (1889-1939) was one of the original working class poets spawned by the Revolution. He initially embraced Bolshevism and took part in the effort to create proletarian culture, but in the 1920s his disillusionment grew, and his writings began to diverge from the official line. He was arrested in 1937 and died in prison two years later.

Rose France

ROSE FRANCE is a Teaching Fellow at the University of Edinburgh. She has translated Lermontov, Teffi and Zoshchenko, among others, and researches literary translation and the works of Zoshchenko and Teffi.

Louise Bryant

LOUISE BRYANT (1885-1936) was an American journalist. She married John Reed in 1916 and their coverage of the Revolution was noted for its sympathetic treatment of the Bolsheviks. After returning to the US, Bryant toured the country speaking in favor of recognition of the new regime and against US intervention in the Russian Civil War. After Reed’s death, she was married to William C. Bullitt from 1923-1930; Bullitt went on to become the first US Ambassador to the USSR in 1933.

Maria Bochkareva

MARIA BOCHKAREVA (1889-1920) was born in Novgorod region. After the February 1917 Revolution, she established the Women’s Battalion of Death, leading 300 women to fight against the Germans. Largely illiterate, she had a prodigious memory and in 1918 dictated her incredible life story to Isaac Levine (which has been republished by Russian Life Books as Maria’s War). Two years later, in 1920, she was captured by Red forces during the Civil War and executed.

Ivan Nenashev

Vsevolod Ivanov

VSEVOLOD IVANOV (1895-1963) was notable for creating adventure novels set in Eastern Russia during the Civil War, most notably Armored Train 14-69, largely informed by his own service in the Red Army. His works were criticized for being too pessimistic, but he continued to write, correcting himself. During World War II he was a war correspondent for Izvestia.

Louis S. Friedland

LOUIS S. FRIEDLAND (1884-1955) and JOSEPH R. PIROSHNIKOFF translated a few books together, including a book on ethics by Prince Pyotr Koropotkin. Friedland was associate editor of the original The Russian Review journal (published 1916-1918) and a lecturer at New York City College. He was one of the first to translate Chekhov’s letters, in 1924.

Alexander Grin

ALEXANDER GRIN (1880-1932), born Alexander Grinevsky, was best known as a writer of fantasy novels and stories of the sea (especially Scarlet Sails). His short stories after the revolution were extremely popular and he moved to Feodosiya in Crimea. But his romanticism came into conflict with the new regime and he and his wife sunk into poverty, alcoholism and illness. He died of cancer in Stary Krym.

Mirra Ginsburg

MIRRA GINSBURG (1909-2000) was a Jewish Russian-American translator of Russian literature, a collector of folk tales, and a children’s writer.

James Womack

JAMES WOMACK is a freelance translator from Russian and Spanish, and has translated authors such as Vladimir Mayakovsky, Sever Gansovsky and the Strugatsky Brothers. He also runs the publishing house Ediciones Nevsky, which produces Spanish translations of Russian books, and which recently has started to publish books in English. He has published one collection of poetry, MISPRINT (2012) and has another, ON TRUST, forthcoming in October 2017.

Donald Thompson

DONALD C. THOMPSON (1885-1947) was a war photographer and filmmaker from Topeka, Kansas. He survived the Siege of Antwerp during WWII and moved east to in Petrograd in 1916 and then through Siberia. In the 1920s he filmed travelogues and made films in China, Turkey, and the Pacific. He also later photographed Italy’s war against Ethiopia in 1936. The images published in this issue are from his book, Blood Stained Russia (1918).

Gerard Shelley

GERARD SHELLEY (1891-1980) was a British linguist, author and translator. He traveled around Russia before and during the Revolution – meeting with the empress and Rasputin on a few occasions – and later became an ordained bishop in the Old Roman Catholic Church in Great Britain, becoming its third archbishop in 1952. After WWII he translated works by many of the great Russian poets and writers.

Mikhail Kuzmin

(1872-1936) was a Silver Age poet, musician and novelist. Born to nobility, he studied music under Rimsky-Korsakov (leaving it for poetry) and was influenced greatly by his travels to the Middle East and Northern Russia. Openly homosexual, he did not find the freedom he longed for in the new Soviet society. His classical, “emotionalist” verse found little resonance with the Soviet state, causing the poet to withdraw from the public eye.

Martha Kelly

MARTHA KELLY is associate professor of Russian at the University of Missouri. She co-edited with Sibelan Forrester the book Russian Silver Age Poetry: Texts and Contexts (2015).

Malcolm Grow

MALCOLM C. GROW (1887-1960) served from 1915-1917 as a regimental surgeon in the First Division of the First Siberian Army Corps in Galicia. He twice distinguished himself and received the Order of Saint Stanislaus, 3rd class, and the Order of St. George, 4th class. He left Russia after the February 1917 Revolution. He went on to a distinguished career in the US Army Medical Service, inventing light body armor, and serving as the first Surgeon General of the Air Force. The Malcolm Grow Medical Center at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland is named in his honor.

Bernard Pares

Bernard Pares (1867-1949) was a British historian and academic. Founder of the first School of Russian Studies in Britain, at the University of Liverpool in 1907. During World War I, he served as Britain’s official observer to the Russian army, and placed himself firmly on the side of the Provisional Government when the events of 1917 unfolded. So much so that he was banned from entry to the USSR until 1935. After the war, he returned to academia and was instrumental in the development of the School of Slavonic and East European Studies at King’s College.

Mikhail Prishvin

Mikhail Prishvin (1873-1954) was a writer born into a merchant’s family who developed leftist leanings. Educated as an agronomist, he worked as journalist, publicist, and teacher. His first story was published in 1906, and he was particularly prized as a writer of works for children.

Yefim Zozulya

YEFIM ZOZULYA (1891-1941) was a journalist and writer who was born and raised in Odessa. In 1923 he founded the journal Ogonyok with the writer Mikhail Koltsov. With the start of World War II, he volunteered to serve in the artillery, then became a military correspondent. Wounded in battle, he died at the front from gangrene. Unfortunately, much of his work has been forgotten; he was a master of psychological short stories that built on the best traditions of Chekhov.

Yevgeny Zamyatin

YEVGENY ZAMYATIN (1884-1937) was a writer, critic and publicist. An “Old Bolshevik” who had been exiled to Siberia under the tsar, he is best known for his science fiction novel We, which in 1921, was the first work banned by the Soviet state. Zamyatin smuggled it abroad for publication and the ensuing outrage led to his exile in 1931. He lived out his life in France.

Alexei N. Tolstoy

Aleksei Nikolayevich Tolstoy (1882-1945), nicknamed the "Comrade Count," was a Russian and Soviet writer who wrote in many genres but specialized in science fiction and historical novels.

Alexander Griboyedov

Alexander Griboyedov (1795-1829) was not simply a great poet and playright, but also a composer and a diplomat. His Woe From Wit is widely recognized as one of the greatest works of Russian literature. Unfortunately, he died rather young, while serving as Russia’s ambassador to Persia, when an angry mob sacked the embassy and killed all the staff.

Jeremy Hicks

Jeremy Hicks teaches Russian culture and film at the University of London, where he serves as Chair of the Department of Russian. His research focuses on Soviet literature and film of the 1920s-1940s. In addition to his translations of Zoshchenko, Hicks is the author of First Films of the Holocaust: Soviet Cinema and the Genocide of the Jews, 1938-46 (2012) and Dziga Vertov: Defining Documentary Film (2007).

Nikolai Karamzin

Nikolai Karamzin (1766-1826) was a profilic writer, poet, critic and historian. Best remembered for his 12-volume History of the Russian State, he translated a good number of foreign works, introduced the "yo" to the Russian alphabet, and is considered the founding father of Russian conservatism.

Elena Kotova

Elena Kotova was born in Novomoskovsk, Tula oblast. She grew and was educated in Saratov, graduating from the Saratov Art Institute with a concentration in painting. From 1991 to 2001 she worked in the city’s prestigious Souvenir photo salon as a photographer, mastering all aspects of film photography and doing body art. In 2015-16 her work was featured on the Instagram site Everyday Russia.

David Modell

DAVID A. MODELL (1878 - ?) was a Russian-born journalist, editor and encyclopedist. A medical school gratuate, he served as an assistant editor of The Russian Review, and translated prose and plays by Turgenev, Kropotkin, Chekhov and others.

Dermot Tatlow

Dermot Tatlow is an Irish photographer, writer and videographer who has lived in Hong Kong, Berlin, Bogota, and now, Washington DC. His editorial work appears in major international publications. His website is at dermottatlow.com

Far Eastern Journalists Collective

The Far Eastern Journalists Collective is a group of writers and journalists who collaborate on articles about the defense of nature and the environment. Their articles are printed widely in local internet and print publications.

Rochelle E. Townsend

ROCHELLE S. TOWNSEND was one of the unsung early translators of Russian works around the turn of the twentieth century. She translated works by Tolstoy, Pushkin, Andreyev, and Turgenev.

Charles Hogarth

CHARLES J. HOGARTH (1869-1942) was a prolific translator of Tolstoy, Turgenev, Klyuchevsky, Gogol, Gorky, and Goncharov.

Anne Gutt

Anne Gutt is a poet and artist. She was awarded the Gabo Prize for Literary Translation Summer/Fall 2017 for her translations of poems by Ganna Shevchenko.

Peter France

Peter France was born in Northern Ireland to Welsh parents. He has written many studies of French and Russian literature (including Poets of Modern Russia, 1982), and is the editor of the Oxford Guide to Literature in English Translation and general editor of the five-volume Oxford History of Literary Translation in English. He has translated French and Russian prose texts as well as several volumes of Russian poetry, including Blok and Pasternak (with Jon Stallworthy), Mayakovsky, and in particular Gennady Aygi. His translated volume of poems by Baratynsky, Half-Light and Other Poems, was published by Arc Publications in 2015.

Shelley Fairweather-Vega

SShelley Fairweather-Vega is a professional translator from Russian and Uzbek, who has translated two of Hamid Ismailov’s Uzbek-language novels in addition to several of his shorter works. Her translations have been published in Translation Review, Words Without Borders, and other journals, and she has published translations of poetry (2016), mystery fiction (2017), and popular science (upcoming in 2018).

Olga Ezova-Denisova

OLGA EZOVA-DENISOVA (featured illustrator) is an artist, illustrator, and printmaker based in Russia. She prefers creating illustrations by hand, with ink or paint on paper, and likes to experiment with mediums in the search of the most exact “word.” Her favorite subjects are the forest and nature. Her work can be seen online at: ezovadenisova.ru.

Olga Sedakova

Olga Sedakova was born in 1949 in Moscow and graduated from the department of philology at Moscow State University. While Sedakova began to write poetry at a young age, her poetry was not published until 1989, partly due to its deeply religious subject matter. She has published 27 books of verse, translation and scholarly research, and is the recipient of the Andrei Bely Prize and the Solzhenitsyn Prize, among others.

Nancy Gardner Prince

Nancy Gardner Prince (1799-c.1856) was an African-American born free in Newburyport, Massachusetts. When she became old enough, she went to work as a servant for white families. In 1824 she married Nero Prince, a founding member of the first black Freemason’s Lodge in America. The couple relocated to Russia, where Nero served as a distinguished black footman to the tsar. They lived in St. Petersburg for nine years, witnessing the great flood of 1824 and the Decembrist revolt.

Catriona Kelly

Catriona Kelly is Professor of Russian at the University of Oxford. She has published a wide variety of books on topics that include Russian modernism, gender history, and national identity. Her study of cultural memory in Leningrad/St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg: Shadows of the Past, was published by Yale University Press in 2014. She contributes frequently to The Guardian and has published translations of various Russian poets, among them Tsvetaeva, Mayakovsky and Olga Sedakova.

Hamid Ismailov

Hamid Ismailov is an Uzbek writer whose work is forbidden in Uzbekistan. Since being obliged to leave his home country in 1992, he has traveled Europe, worked for the BBC World Service, and continued writing. His Russian-language novels include The Railway, The Underground, and The Dead Lake. Starting in 2015, new efforts have been undertaken to publish his Uzbek work in English.

Nina Iskrennko

Nina Iskrennko (1951-1995) was an influential poet of the Moscow New Wave in the 1980s, and a member of the unofficial Moscow club Poetry. Following the 1991 putsch, she became a member of the Russian Writers’ Union. She published three books of poetry in 1991, and her work appeared in many journals. In 1995 she received the Yeltsin Award for her poetry. 13 Less than half of her works had been published when she died of cancer at the age of 43.

Valentina Pevtsova

Iakov Filimonov

Iakov Filimonov is a Russian-born photographer who lives in Barcelona, Spain.

Dmitri Nizhegorodsky

DMITRI NIZHEGORODSKY was an office worker when he decided to chuck his job and go on a walkabout, along the full length of the Volga River. He is currently writing a book about his adventure.

Nataliya Kienya

NATALIYA KIENYA was born in Moscow and grew up in Russia and Latvia. She received a degree in international journalism from MGIMO and worked for Izvestia and Theory and Practice. She now works as editor-in-chief for ucheba.ru and her first book, The Mechanics Of Inspiration: From Culture To Brain will be published (in Russian) by AST in 2018. This is her first contribution to Russian Life.

Yuliya Ballou

Yuliya Ballou has been a Russian language teacher for ten years. She was born and raised in Russia but now lives in Vermont.

Robert Krattli

Robert Krattli is a member of the Founders Board of Russian Life. Now retired, he was formerly Vice President of the Pullman Corp., and former CEO of several companies with business connections in Russia.

Alexei Astredinov

Alexei Astredinov is a photographer based in Voronezh.

Dmitry Kostyukov

Dmitry Kostyukov has covered current events and in-depth stories in Russia, Ukraine, the Caucasus and Central Asia, including the conflict in South Ossetia in 2008 and the war in Afghanistan. Prior to going freelance in 2011, he worked as a staff photographer at Agence France-Presse (2008-2011). He is a winner at NPPA: The Best of Photojournalism in 2010 and 2013 and the Magnum Foundation and IdeasTap 30 Under 30 competition, a finalist at the Sony World Photography Awards (2011). He holds a degree in Journalism from Moscow State University, where he has been a frequent lecturer since 2010 to 2015. Dmitry is a regular contributor to The New York Times.

Susanne Sternthal

SUSANNE STERNTHAL is a writer who lives in Moscow. She is currently researching a book on three Gulag camps in the Perm region that held Soviet dissidents. She received her Ph.D. from Columbia University.

Alexander Mikaberidze

Alexander Mikaberidze is Hubert H. Humphreys Professor of History at Louisiana State University (Shreveport), where he teaches Russian and Soviet History. He has written extensively on Russia’s role in the Napoleonic Wars and is currently finishing his trilogy on the Patriotic War of 1812.?

Artur Demchenko

Artur Demchenko is a professional freelance photographer who specializes in weddings and travel. He regularly shoots for the magazine Otdykh v Rossii (Vacation in Russia) and had an exhibition of his works at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.

Maria Artemyeva

Maria Artemyeva was educated as a philologist and has worked as a journalist and an editor at a Moscow publishing house overseeing the release of successful children’s books and periodicals. In recent years she has focused on her family and literature, under the motto “Curiosity is not a vice!” She is enthralled by horror, riddles and mysteries, and when it comes to literature prefers the mystical realm: magical realism, fantasy and detective novels. She is the author of two books collecting urban legnds: The Dark Side of Moscow and The Dark Side of Petersburg. In her spare time she loves to paint and draw.

Anna Starobinets

Anna Starobinets is a journalist who writes on cultural issues for a number of Russian publications, such as Expert and Russian Reporter. She is also a scriptwriter and perhaps Russia’s preeminent author of horror fiction. The Awkward Age, her collection of short stories, has been translated into English by Hesperus. She is also the author of the novel Refuge F/A; Cold Spell – from which her story in this issue was taken; The First Squad. The Moment of Truth; The Living (also published in English by Hesperus); as well as two books for children. All of her novels have been nominated for the National Bestseller Prize. She lives in Moscow and is married to Alexander Garros, the well-known author of the international bestseller Headcrusher.

Elena Rodina

ELENA RODINA was born in Kazan and moved to Moscow after graduating from university. There she worked as a journalist for Ogonyok magazine, and as a special correspondent for Esquire, traveling across Russia and around the world, writing reports from Hong-Kong to Cuba, from the Yamal Peninsula to the Far East. She received her Master’s degree from the University of Oregon and now lives and works in Chicago, as a freelance journalist and illustrator for Elle, Time Out Chicago, Esquire, Newcity, and others. When she is not drawing or writing, she is riding a tandem bike with her husband, exploring American roads from the point of view of a cyclist.

Dmitry Zlodorev

Dmitry Zlodorev was born in Moscow. He graduated from Moscow State University’s journalism faculty, and since 1992 has worked for the ITAR-TASS newswire service, covering culture, sports, economics, politics, religion, energy and other issues. Since 2006, he has been senior news writer for ITAR-TASS in Washington, DC. In January 2013 he received a Silver Archer award (honoring PR and other efforts to enhance US-Russian relations), for a series of articles on Russian America.

Jonathan Reisman

Jonathan Reisman was born and raised in New Jersey. After graduating from college, he worked and traveled in Russia for over a year, studying the international environmental movement and its impact on Russian business and politics since the end of the Soviet Union. He also conducted anthropological studies of native peoples of the Russian Far East. He then attended Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Jersey, and is currently a third-year resident in internal medicine and pediatrics at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. He also conducts ongoing public health research in the Arctic and in India. 

Eric Niderost

Eric Niderost teaches history at Chabot College, in the San Francisco Bay area. He has long had a fascination with Russian history and culture, and has written extensively on the subject. He is particularly interested in the life of the White Russian community in Shanghai, China, during the years between the World Wars, sparked in part because his wife is Chinese and from Shanghai.

Anton Orlov

Anton Orlov was born in Moscow and moved to California in 1994. He received a B.F.A. in Photography from San Jose State University, has been working in the field for over a decade, and gives private lessons in traditional photography from his darkroom in San Diego. Currently he is traveling the country in a school bus converted into a darkroom and presentation area. While on the road, he offers Magic Lantern Shows as well as classes and demonstrations in alternative photographic methods. Visit his website at: thephotopalace.blogspot.com

Kris Farmen

Kris Farmen is a novelist, historian, and award-winning freelance journalist. His books include The Devil’s Share, Weathered Edge (with Martha Amore and Buffy McKay) and Turn Again, a historical novel about the first generation of Russian-speaking kids to grow up in Alaska after the arrival of the Americans. He holds degrees in anthropology and archaeology, and his work has appeared in Alaska magazine, Mushing magazine, The Surfer’s Path, and The Anchorage Press. He lives in Alaska, dividing his time between Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula.

Anton Agafonov

Anton Agafonov was born in Izhevsk, and graduated from Udmurt State University with a degree in English Language and Literature. After working as an English professor at his alma mater for five years, in 2013 he moved to the US, yet he still returns regularly to Russia. He is currently teaching Russian Language and Russian Culture as well as English Composition in colleges of the Southern Tier region in New York State, as well as in Erie, PA. He is always glad to share the wealth of his knowledge of two languages and two cultures.

Olga Kuzmina

Olga Kuzmina is the managing editor of Chtenia. A Moscow native, she graduated from the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill with degrees in Political Science and Slavic Language and Culture. She now lives in Washington, DC, where she works as a researcher on U.S.-Russia relations. She was shortlisted for the Rossica Young Translators Award in 2012.

Jennifer Utrata

JENNIFER UTRATA, an award-winning sociologist of gender, first became interested in Russia while taking a Tolstoy class as an elective at the University of Chicago. She began studying Russian in the 1990s, while living with families and teaching English to high school students in Bukhara, Uzbekistan. Since earning her Ph.D. from U.C. Berkeley in 2008, she has been teaching at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington. Her first book, Women Without Men: Single Mothers and Gender Crisis in the New Russia (Cornell University Press), will be published in 2014.

Vladimir Gilyarovsky

VLADIMIR GILYAROVSKY (1855-1935), also known as "Uncle Gilya," has been widely hailed as Russia's "king of journalists." After fleeing home at the age of 15, he worked in various professions for a decade before ending up in Moscow. From 1880 to his death, he worked as a journalist based in the capital, reporting on all layers of society, with a particular focus on the city’s seamy underbelly. His masterwork, Moscow and Muscovites, has just been translated into English for the first time.

James Brown

JAMES BROWN is a Moscow based journalist and documentary maker with RT. You can watch his films about the VDV at rt.com (search on his name) and follow him on Twitter @jimbrownjourno

Mikhail Plotnikov

Mikhail Plotnikov was born in Sochi and lives there to this day. Since childhood, he has loved his city and the amazing nature that surrounds it. He is an ecologist by profession and works at the Sochi Division of the Russian Geographical Society, where he is mainly involved in conservation, but also in development of eco-tourism and protecting the region’s biodiversity. He regularly organizes and lead trips and expeditions (including film shoots) into the area’s mountains.

Daniel Boltinsky

DANIEL BOLTINSKY is a freelance journalist who was born in Toronto, Canada, and is presently a student at the University of King’s College in Halifax. His pieces have appeared in outlets including the Hindustan Times, the Chronicle Herald of Halifax, and the King’s College paper, The Watch.

Julia Naberezhnaya

Julia Naberezhnaya was born in Sochi and lives there to this day. Since childhood, she has loved her city and the amazing nature that surrounds it. She is an ecologist by profession and works at the Sochi Division of the Russian Geographical Society, where she is mainly involved in conservation, but also in development of eco-tourism and protecting the region’s biodiversity. She regularly organizes and lead trips and expeditions (including film shoots) into the area’s mountains.

Diana Bruk

Diana Bruk was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, and emigrated to New York at the age of five. Her essays and short stories have appeared in The NY Times, the Paris Review, Salon, and many other magazines. She lives in New York City, but travels back to Russia frequently, both by plane and by books.

Elena Petrova

Elena Petrova was born in a small town near Moscow, but now lives and works in Moscow as a programmer in a large Russian internet company. She has also worked as a freelance photographer, shooting landscape and travel subjects, for six years. In her spare time she likes to travel Russia by car with her husband and two baby daughters.

Joanie Conwell

JOANIE CONWELL has traveled the Trans-Siberian railroad, practiced icon writing, and talked spy novels with a former KGB agent. When she’s not dreaming up international intrigue or scouting for kvas in a can, she’s at home in North Carolina, writing about culture and running the intercultural consulting firm, RTP Global.

Anna Mazanik

ANNA MAZANIK is an historian of late-imperial Russia. She was born in Moscow, graduated from Moscow State University, and studied at Johns Hopkins University, TU Darmstadt and LMU Munich. She is currently researching the history of public health in Moscow at Central European University, Budapest. 

Anton Trofimov

ANTON TROFIMOV was born in Crimea. He graduated from university with a degree in philosophy, did some graduate work, and left behind an unfinished dissertation devoted to the Russian intelligentsia. He does photography, engages in social action and teaches philosophy. He recently spent a year on the Solovetsky Islands building the wooden ship, St. Peter. While there, he came to understand that he was a man, a Russian, and an Orthodox believer.

Rachel Nielsen

RACHEL NIELSEN is a freelance journalist based in Moscow. Previously, she has been a business reporter and editor at The Moscow Times, covered business and technology at Dow Jones Newswires in New York, and wrote about housing policy, also in New York.

Dmitry Serebyakov

DMITRY SEREBYAKOV was born in Moscow. For some strange reason he picked up a camera at the age of five and has not put it down since. Although he received a degree in genetic engineering, photography lured him away from a life in science, and he has since been photographing everything from political news to conflict zones. When he’s not roaming around with a camera, he’s probably on his bicycle.

Igor Sobolev

Igor Sobolev was born and raised in Moscow. He began taking pictures at a young age and now focuses most of his photographic work on architecture and landscapes, especially in Moscow. His website is at sobio.ru.

Ekaterina Schulmann

EKATERINA SCHULMANN is a Russian political scientist specializing in the Russian legislative process, and parliamentarism and decision making mechanisms in hybrid political regimes. She has a Ph.D. in political science and is a senior lecturer at the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, and a permanent lecturer at the Moscow School of Civic Education. She is the author of Law-Making as a Political Process and is a regular columnist with the newspaper Vedomosti.

Arthur Bondar

ARTHUR BONDAR is a freelance photographer from Ukraine who also creates his own documentary and artistic projects. He studied photography at New York University and participated in the Eddie Adams Workshop and NOOR-Nikon Masterclass. He has received several awards to support and honor his work, including the Magnum Emergency Fund, The Documentary Project Fund, National Geographic Grant and the Best Photographer of the Year in Ukraine. His projects have been exhibited as installations, exhibitions and screenings worldwide. He participates in the VII Photo Agency Mentor Program and is based in Moscow.

Alison Shuman

Since receiving a Master’s degree in Photojournalism, ALISON SHUMAN has been working as a freelance photographer in the US and Russia. Her most recent project, Minarets and Onion Domes, which focused on relations between Muslims and Orthodox Christians in Kazan, culminated in a book of the same title and the production of a solo exhibition at the Tatarstan State Gallery of Modern Art in Kazan. She continues to travel the Russian countryside, photographing the patchwork of cultural enclaves that comprise this vast and varied land.

Vladimir Kozlov

VLADIMIR KOZLOV is an author and filmmaker living in Moscow. His fiction and nonfiction has been long-listed for some of Russia’s top literary awards. He recently made a documentary on Siberia’s punk scene in the 1980’s, Traces in the Snow.

Maxim Edwards

MAXIM EDWARDS is a student and freelancer from London, and an Editorial Assistant at openDemocracy Russia. He writes on inter-ethnic and inter-religious relations in Eurasia, with a particular interest in Russia and the South Caucasus. His articles have appeared in publications such as Al Jazeera, the Forward, openDemocracy, Roads & Kingdoms and Souciant Magazine, among others.

David Edwards

David Edwards has worked at several newspapers as a reporter, copy editor and editor. He briefly served as news editor and chief copy editor at the Moscow Times and now works on the copy desk at the Las Vegas Review-Journal. A native of Spokane, Washington, he holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a master’s degree in international relations. He also does freelance Russian translation. Largely self-taught in Russian, he recently began studying his fourth foreign language, Turkish.

Alice E.M. Underwood

ALICE E.M. UNDERWOOD is a PhD candidate in Comparative Literature at Stanford University, where she specializes in literary and ideological deviance in twentieth-century Russian literature. While her research keeps her busy with decaying bodies, masculinity, and signs of decadence in the pre-perestroika Soviet Union, she sometimes takes a break to dabble in the poetic world of the Russian soul. In addition to teaching courses in Russian language and literature, she pens the occasional blog and edits Russian Life’s popular e-letter, The Weekly Russia File.

Mikhail Cheryomkin

Mikhail Cheryomkin was born in Yakutia’s Momsky District, and now lives and works in the village of Khonuu, the district’s administrative center. He is a traveler and widely acclaimed photographer and has received Global Arctic Awards and awards from National Geographic and the Photographic Society of America.

Eugenia Kuznetsova

Eugenia Kuznetsova was born and raised in Moscow, and has worked as a journalist for seven years. She specializes in political journalism and is writing for a couple of foreign newspapers and magazines, including the Voice of America. In her spare time, she works on her “AUT” project, aimed at helping young people with mental disabilities.

Christopher Herwig

Christopher Herbig is a Canadian-born photographer and videographer determined to find beauty and inspiration in all aspects of life. A firm belief that the thrill of exploration is still alive in the world has sent him hitchhiking from Vancouver to Cape Town, across Iceland by foot and raft, and through Europe on a bike. Currently based in Jordan, he provides photos from some of the remotest regions of the world, from the Pamir mountains in Tajikistan to the rainforests of West Africa, for publications including GEO, CNN Traveler, Geographical, and Lonely Planet. He has worked extensively with non-government organizations and development agencies in some of the poorest parts of the world to put a human face to their statistics and bring project proposals to life.

Rebecca Gould

Rebecca Gould is Reader in Translation Studies and Comparative Literature at the University of Bristol in England. Her translations include The Prose of the Mountains: Tales of the Caucasus, from which excerpts are included here, and After Tomorrow the Days Disappear: Ghazals and Other Poems of Hasan Sijzi of Delhi (Northwestern University Press, 2016). She is also the author of Writers and Rebels: The Literature of Insurgency in the Caucasus (Yale University Press, 2016). She began translating Qazbegi when she move to Tbilisi in 2004 and fell so strongly in love with his work that she continued translating his stories until she had completed what became her first book length translation.

Edwin Trommelen

Edwin Trommelen is a writer and documentary filmmaker with a lifelong fascination for all things Russian. His directing credits include Back to the Camp (about a Dutch woman who was imprisoned in Russia) and Behind the Black Mountains (about a Jewish boy from Amsterdam, Anton Devier, who traveled back to Russia with Peter the Great and became the first Police Chief of St. Petersburg). His most recent film Voices from the Tundra – The Last of the Yukagirs won three international prizes. He is also the author of Davai! The Russians and their Vodka (Russian Life Books, 2012), and is working on a book on the BAM Railway.

Ekaterina Golovina

Ekaterina Golovina was born in St. Petersburg and graduated from the journalism department of St. Petersburg State University. She has written for domestic and international media outlets, concentrating on sports and travel, and has been traveling and living abroad for the last seven years. Golovina writes about life on the road in her blog: follow-wind.com.

Kevin J. McNamara

Kevin J. McNamara is the author of Dreams of a Great Small Nation: The Mutinous Army that Threatened a Revolution, Destroyed an Empire, Founded a Republic, and Remade the Map of Europe (New York: Public Affairs, 2016). To write his book, shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union he traveled almost two thousand miles along the Trans-Siberian Railway, following the path taken by the Czecho-Slovak Legion. He is an associate scholar of the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia, PA, and a former contributing editor to its quarterly journal, Orbis: A Journal of World Affairs. He lives in Philadelphia, PA.

Petr Shelomovskiy

Petr Shelomovskiy is a Moscow born, Prague based freelance photojournalist. He graduated from Moscow’s Institute for Electronic Engineering with a PhD in Engineering. Published in The New York Times, The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Sunday Times, and The Times of London, he has photographed civil protests and conflicts in Ukraine, Turkey, and Armenia. In his spare time he enjoys long distance motorcycle trips and backpacking through Southeast Asia.

Michal Iwanowski

Michal Iwanowski is a Polish born, Cardiff based artist who teaches at the non-profit Ffotogallery. Iwanowski studied documentary photography at the University of Wales. His work explores the relationship between landscape and memory, marking the silent passing of otherwise insignificant individuals and histories. In 2009, he won the Magenta Foundation’s Emerging Photographers award, and received a Honorable Mention at Px3 Prix De Photographie, Paris. He has received Arts Council of Wales and Wales Arts International grants for his projects Clear of People and Fairy Fort Project; in 2012 he was in residency in Kaunas, supported by the Lithuanian Ministry of Culture.

Zinaida Burskaya

Zinaida Burskaya graduated from Moscow State University with a degree in journalism and has worked at Novaya Gazeta newspaper since 2008. She writes about natural and man-made disasters, as well as the lives of ordinary people across the country. In 2014-15 she covered the war in Ukraine from both sides of the frontline. She lives in Moscow.

Jonathan C. Slaght

Jonathan C. Slaght is the Russia and Northeast Asia Coordinator for the Wildlife Conservation Society, and authors a guest blog for Scientific American, “East of Siberia.” His writings and research have been featured on the BBC World Service, in The New York Times, Smithsonian Magazine, and Audubon Magazine, among others. Slaght is the translator of Vladimir Arsenyev’s 1921 book Across the Ussuri Kray (Indiana University Press, 2016). This unabridged, uncensored, detailed account of Arsenyev’s 1902 and 1906 expeditions is augmented by several hundred annotations, two maps, and nearly 40 photographs..

Gregory Edwards

Gregory Edwards is an art historian with an interest in the decorated urban environment, in particular in Art Deco architecture and mosaics of all kinds. He was born in Ottawa, Canada, but has lived for over 20 years in London, UK. It was in London that he discovered the mosaics of Boris Anrep. Edwards' first book, Hidden Cities, won a city of Vancouver Heritage award. More recently he has been publishing ebooks about London’s Art Deco architecture. He has also written an ebook about Boris Anrep and his mosaics.

Matt Traver

Matt Traver is a filmmaker, photographer and creator of content relating to adventure, travel and culture. His filming locations have included the deserts of Uzbekistan, the steppes of Kazakhstan/Mongolia, the high mountains of Iran and Tajikistan, the Tuvan taiga forest, and the rivers of Siberia. His work has screened at 30 international film festivals in the UK, France, Italy, Czech Republic, US, Bulgaria, Slovenia and Australia. He is currently working on an adventure travel and cultural film series called Crossing Siberia, which aims to reveal untold stories from within the world’s largest expanse of wilderness.

Evgeny Sinitsyn

Evgeny Sinitsyn was born and raised in Chelyabinsk. He studied journalism in Chelyabinsk and Information-Communication in Saint-Etienne, France. He began his journalism career as a writer, but has since moved to photography. He now works and lives in Moscow.

Vitaly Berkov

VITALY BERKOV was born in Vladivostok. He is a landscape photographer, traveler, and activist for better copyright laws. He has been a finalist in Russia’s largest nature photography exhibitions, and is a six-time winner of the Look at Vladivostok contest, as well as the winner of the Russia-wide Travel at Home, Epson’s Planet of Colors, and Lucida Art. He is presently working on a book featuring his Russian Far East photography.

Yulia Atayeva

JULIA ATAYEVA was born in Volgograd, where she still lives. Educated as a bookkeeper, she always loved cooking, no matter how difficult the dish; the main thing is that it be tasty and beautiful. About seven years ago she became interested in food photography and is now a self-taught professional, providing her work to various photo licensing sites. She also puts her photography to good use on her popular (in Russia) food blog and Facebook group, "Ya ne umeyu khudet" (“I don’t know how to lose weight.”) She is writing a book on low-carb cooking.

Darya Grebenshchikova

Darya Grebenshchikova was born in Moscow to the unlikely couple of a white émigré father who returned to the Soviet Union and a mother who was from a family of Nizhny Novgorod merchants. She was educated as a stage artist at the MKhAT Drama School and worked at the Lenkom Theater as a costume artist before, in the 1990s, accidentally buying a house in a tiny village of Sheshurino with her husband, and then overcoming her fear of cows and dark forests. She has lived there ever since, enjoying the company of the last three remaining babushka neighbors.

Anastasia Byrka

Anastasia Byrka graduated from Voronezh State University with a degree in journalism and worked at Communa newspaper as a staff correspondent and a newsroom editor from 2008 to 2014. She has contributed to The Moscow Times newspaper and Moskauer Deutsche Zeitung, and is a columnist in Uchitelskaya Gazeta, where she writes about how young children learn English as a second language. She lives in Voronezh.

Russell Working

Russell Working has written for The New York Times, The Atlantic, The South China Morning Post, The Boston Globe, The Moscow Times, The Jerusalem Post and scores of other publications around the world. A former reporter for the Chicago Tribune, he is the author of two collections of short fiction, Resurrectionists and The Irish Martyr. After spending five years as an editor and foreign correspondent in Vladivostok, he now lives in suburban Chicago.

Asya Lisina

Asya Lisina is an artist and illustrator who studied at the Moscow Art Lyceum and the Gerasimov State Institute of Cinematography. She works with the Art Lebedev Studio and especially loves to draw animals.

Marie Betteley

Born and raised in Paris, Marie Betteley is a third generation jewelry dealer. As a teenager, she lived on the grounds of Hillwood Museum in Washington DC, where her father, Roy D.R. Betteley, was director. She began her career as a gemologist and Head of Christie’s Russian department in America, later starting her own business trading in Fabergé and jewels. Today, Marie consults for auction houses, museums and private collectors worldwide. She is writing a book, Beyond Fabergé Russian Imperial Jewelers, expected out in August 2017.

John Castellucci

John Castellucci is a freelance writer who lives in Rhode Island. He studied Russian at Columbia College and Harvard University, then spent 30 years working as a newspaper reporter, 22 of them at the Providence Journal. A friend in Moscow, curious how an American reporter would react to the stories Sergei Dovlatov wrote for Soviet Estonia, introduced him to Dovlatov, recommending that he read the collection Kompromiss.

Marianne Ide

Marianne Ide is an international school teacher and writer. At the suggestion of an excellent friend, she began playing cello as a hobby, studying with string players in Yemen and the Republic of Georgia. She considers herself incredibly lucky to have studied music for two years with the principal cellist for the Tbilisi State Conservatory. She now lives, works, and plays in Karachi Pakistan.

Divya Ryan

Divya Ryan is an undergraduate student who studies at Pomona College, where she majors in International Relations and minors in Russian and Eastern European Studies. She grew up in Singapore, and has a passion for languages, books, food, and history.

Alex Van Oss

Alex Van Oss was born in Kuala Lumpur to diplomats working in the US Foreign Service, and grew up in Asia, Europe, Africa, and the US. In college he majored in biology and began graduate studies in microbiology, but switched to journalism, working for years at NPR and as an independent reporter, producer, and editor. A lifelong painter and student of Russian, from 2003-2014 he coordinated Caucasus Area Studies at the Foreign Service Institute in Arlington, Virginia.

Marina Pustilnik

Marina Pustilnik was born in Russia’s northern Caucasus, but spent her teenage years in Massachusetts and Vermont, attending, in particular, Middlebury College. In 1998 she returned to Moscow and tried her hand at all kinds of trades, working as an internet project manager, newspaper columnist, TV producer, editor-in-chief of online media, at-home baker, bagel maker, and startup co-founder. Today she practices yoga, walks around Moscow, runs a small culinary blog on Telegram, and translates both English and Russian for a variety of causes and clients.

Yulia Skopich

Yulia Skopich was born in Gryazi, Lipetsk region, and graduated from Yelets State University with a degree in journalism. Since 2012, she has worked as a journalist for many Russian and foreign publications, writing on a wide range of subjects, from society and culture, to sport and the environment. However, she prefers to write about the lives of ordinary people in Lipetsk region and her experience of traveling the world. She lives in Lipetsk.

Victoria Juharyan

VICTORIA JUHARYAN is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures at Princeton University, where she is completing a dissertation titled “The Cognitive Value of Love in Tolstoy: A Study in Aesthetics.” She also has an MA in Comparative Literature from Dartmouth College, and a BA in Literary Editing from St. Petersburg State University in Russia. Her research interests include the relationship between philosophy and literature, nineteenth-century Russian literature, Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, aesthetics, philosophy of emotion and cognition in literature, the theory of the novel, Bakhtin, Russian theater, poetry and translation.

Nicole Steinberg

NICOLE STEINBERG graduated from Georgetown University in 2016 with a degree in Linguistics and Slavic Studies. She spent the last year in Zaporizhia, Southern Ukraine, as a Fulbright Fellow. She has also spent significant time in Russia, Latvia, and Kazakhstan.

Christopher Sandford

Christopher Sandford graduated with a masters in history from Cambridge University. Having spent his childhood partly in the Soviet Union and partly in the United Kingdom, he now lives in Seattle. He is the author of 25 books, numerous magazine articles, and a play called Comrades. His most recent book, Union Jack: John F. Kennedy's Special Relationship with Great Britain, was described by National Review as "Political history of a high order... It is the Kennedy book to beat."

Igor Zalyubovin

Igor Zalyubovin is a staff contributor at Snob magazine. He also writes for GQ and Esquire. In addition to writing about lighter than air ships, he has penned articles on Kuban wine, politics, society, and, of course, bitcoin.

laurawithhorse2.jpg

laurawithhorse.jpg

August 01, 2018

What We Do

At Russian Life, we are committed to supporting causes that protect our natural environment, promote arts and education, and help those in greatest need.

• NGOs

February 15, 2018

Sponsor a School

Nearly two decades ago, Russian Life inaugurated a special Education Patron Program to underwrite distribution of Russian Life to Russian language students in the United States. Subscribers and friends of the magazine make small donations each year to sponsor this school distribution program.

• Education

The Children of 1917

Uchites 50

"A Song About Paintings" ~ May/June 2018

Uchites 49

Leonid Gaidai ~ March/April 2018

Uchites 48

Celebrating the New Year ~ January/February 2018

Uchites 44

Vladimir Vysotsky: "I do not Love" ~ May/June 2017

Uchites 43

Russian Names ~ March/April 2017

Uchites 42

Maslenitsa ~ January/February 2017

Uchites 41

The Three Bears ~ November/December 2016

Uchites 40

Russian Riddles ~ September/October 2016

Uchites 39

Samovar! ~ July/August 2016

Uchites 38

Anton Chekhov: "In the Country" ~ May/June 2016

Uchites 37

Lost and Found in Translation ~ March/April 2016

Uchites 30 - Audio

Audio of Lermontov Poem

Uchites 26 - Audio

Did Mendeleyev invent vodka?

Uchites 24 - Audio

Turgenev, "First Love"

Uchites 21 - Audio2

Man and Tiger

Uchites 21 - Audio

Old Fable

Uchites 18 - Audio

Catherine the Great

Uchites 17 - Video2

Watch and listen to "When Your Girlfriend Was Sick"

Uchites 17 - Video

Watch and listen to the interview on YouTube

Uchites 15 - Audio2

Sochi 2012 (language learning)

Uchites 15 - Audio

Sochi 2012

Uchites 14 - Audio

Amphibian Man

Uchites 12 - Audio

Rimma Kazakova poem

Uchites 11 - Audio

Part One: Sentences

Uchites 10 - Audio2

Akhmatova: Dvadsat pervoe

Uchites 10 - Audio

Akhmatova: Szhala ruki

Uchites 09 - Audio

Description of a Repin painting

Uchites 08 - Audio2

Sergei Yesenin: "Goodbye"

Uchites 08 - Audio

Sergei Yesenin: "Letter to Mother"

Uchites 07 - Audio3

Lev Tolstoy: "The Tsar and the Shirt"

Uchites 07 - Audio2

Lev Tolstoy: "The Squirrel and the Wolf"

Uchites 07 - Audio

Lev Tolstoy: "The Pit"

Uchites 36

Pushkin's Magic Fish ~ Jan/Feb 2016 

Uchites 35

Matching Proverbs ~ Nov/Dec 2015 

Uchites 34

War and Peace ~ July/Aug 2015

Uchites 33

May Holidays ~ May/June 2015

Uchites 32

Yuri Nagibin ~ Mar/Apr 2015

Uchites 31

Boris Pasternak ~ Jan/Feb 2015

Uchites 30

Mikhail Lermontov ~ Sep/Oct 2014

Uchites 29

Simferopol Banksy ~ July/Aug 2014

Uchites 28

Mikhail Glinka ~ May/June 2014

Uchites 27

Ivan Bunin ~ Mar/Apr 2014

Uchites 26

Dmitry Mendeleyev ~ Jan/Feb 2014

Uchites 25

Children's Railroad ~ Nov/Dec 2013

Uchites 24

Turgenev ~ Sep/Oct 2013

Uchites 23

The Romanovs ~ May/June 2013

Uchites 22

Kamchatka ~ Mar/Apr 2013

Uchites 21

Circassian Tales ~ Jan/Feb 2013

Uchites 20

Baikonur ~ Nov/Dec 2012

Uchites 19

Aquarium ~ Sep/Oct 2012

Uchites 18

Catherine the Great ~ July/Aug 2012

Uchites 17

Victor Tsoy ~ May/June 2012

Uchites 16

Kornei Chukovsky ~ Mar/Apr 2012

Uchites 15

Sochi Olympics ~ Jan/Feb 2012

Uchites 14

Amphibian Man ~ Nov/Dec 2011

Uchites 13

Dovlatov ~ Sep/Oct 2011

Uchites 12

Great Patriotic War ~ May/June 2011

Uchites 11

Travelling across Russia by bike ~ Mar/Apr 2011

Uchites 10

Anna Akhmatova and Amedeo Modigliani ~ Jan/Feb 2011

Uchites 09

Russian Art: Itinerants ~ Nov/Dec 2010

Uchites 08

Esenin: biography and poems ~ Sep/Oct 2010

Uchites 07

Children stories, Tolstoy ~ Jan/Feb 2010

Uchites 06

Lighthouse keeper: solve the mystery ~ Nov/Dec 2009

Uchites 05

The Return, Platonov ~ Sep/Oct 2009

Uchites 02

Christmas Eve, Gogol ~ March/April 2009

Uchites 04

Russian Television ~ July/Aug 2009

Uchites 03

Plagiarism in Russia ~ May/June 2009

Uchites 01

Lyceum Day, Pushkin ~ Sep/Oct 2008

Don't think of the birch trees

This couch calls for a nap

Outside Krasnoyarsk

Serious power napping

Train to Ufa

Spasibo, Raiffeisen Bank! (in Irkutsk)

Definitely not sharing a cat video

Meal time

Work, don't sightsee

Cars are made for napping

What rhymes with "smelly feet"?

These bunks were made for working

susanin

accreditation

ukhti

anglissky

Email to Site Group

Email to Site Group - Send

Email Send

Email Compose

maltsev

note8

note7

note6

note5

note4

note3

note2

note1

temp

tal

loginov

osip

vovka

sokolov

berggolts5

berggolts4

berggolts3

berggolts1

berggolts2

svanidze

bubnov

Events Add

Events Update

Events Update Action

Events Delete

Events List Current

Events Copy

Events Contact Update Action

Events Contact Delete

Events Contact Update

Events Contact Add

Events Contact Insert

Events By Contact

Events Search Output

Events Search

Events Insert

Verify

Stores

Dates

Companies

Events

Print Ads

Archive

Press

Moscow

Moscow barricades

Novaya Ladoga

Novaya Ladoga

Oryol

Oryol

St. Petersburg

St. Petersburg fisherman

Staraya Ladoga

Staraya Ladoga

Snow

Kandalaksha is located above the Arctic Circle, on the south end of the Kola Peninsula. Тhe city's population is thirty thousand. Many people are moving away, heading south. The climate is difficult here, with a long polar night and the lack of vitamin D. Some people come back, saying that the north is calling them home. Life in the Arctic is charming in its own way.

whiskers

narezhny

derzhavin

polevoy

kamenev

radishchev

Wooden Masterpieces

Shopping

On Fire

Lenin Avenue

In the Tram

Drama Theater

Barbers

Ice Cream

Beagle

After a rain.

Theater Square

Last day of the New Year's Holidays

Swimming

Swimming under the bridge. Some people just can't wait for the summer swimming season.

Street view

On the streets of Saratov.

February

A February snow.

Window

View of the city from the window of a school.

House

House on the river. First snow on the Volga. The pier from which boats head for the islands.

Boat

An abandoned boat, the most widespread type of vessel on the Volga.

Beach

Badminton on the beach

Yoga

Yoga House. Irina is the owner and trainer of a yoga center.

Park

Summer dance in the water fountain - a true salvation from the heat.

Dip

Frosty winter dip in the Baltic Sea, Zelenogradsk.

Owl

At the wild animal shelter

Snowman

In the city center

Shelter

Shelter for wild animals in a village outside the city.

Cathedral

Cathedral

House of Soviets

The House of Soviets which has been an unfinished bit of construction since 1986.

City Admin

Administrative building of Kaliningrad.

Fishing Village

View of fishing village from the river Pregol

Operating Room

At the main city hospital.

Pier

Iced over pier in Zelenogradsk.

Surgery

Surgery center at the city's main hospital.

Excavation

Excavation in the city center, on the site of the royal palace exploded in 1945.

Ruins

More on the excavation

Ready!

More military training

Run

Military training

Flag

Woman with a flag at the city's Central Square

Empty

Empty store shelves at the closed Seventh Continent store.

Seventh Continent

Another shot from Seventh Continent

Training

Training Spetsnatz troops on freeing hostages.

More training

Training Spetsnatz troops.

Stray

Capturing a stray dog near Kaliningrad.

Another Stray

Capturing a stray outside Kaliningrad.

Tattoos

Swans

Sun Worshipper

Lights

Fortress

Duck

Flowers

Birds

Boxing

Candles

Bath house

Ice 

A girl playing at a monument to the Great Patriotic War. Behind the tank you can see the lit windows of the city administration. On the pedestal, where the little girl is sitting, the spring thaw has formed flat sheets of ice - to the delight of local children.

Teacher

Ludmila Pavlovna worked as a primary school teacher all her life in one of Kandalaksha's schools. Her family came here many years ago from the Urals - the father was sent north into exile.

Ice Fisherman

Ice fishermen. Kandalaksha sits on the shores of the White Sea. Almost every family has a fisherman and every fisherman has his favorite fishing spot. The men usually go into the gulf in search of cod.

Hockey

On the weekend there is always something to see. Here, an ice hockey match, Kandalaksha city versus Zelenoborsky village.

Volleyball

As in many Russian cities, in the evening the school gyms are rented by adults. The city's female volleyball team trains.

Skiing

The city has a lot of hills. You can ride down a slope right next to your house. People love not only sledding; the youth also do cross-country and alpine skiing, snowboarding, hockey, and winter motocross, because the snow here doesn't melt until May.

Cat

A pregnant cat rests at a grocery store. In the north, there are relatively few homeless felines - the winters are too severe. But stray dogs - we have a billion of those.

Rink

This is the ice rink of the Sports Palace, behind it is the stadium, and behind that the taiga. In lean years, bears show up on the outskirts of the city in search of food, wolves appear less frequently. Every second resident in the city has his own story about a bear. One day I was talking to a local taxi driver, and he showed me an image on his phone, in which he was feeding a bear cake directly from his hands. 

Guess!

Street Busker

Bread store

Ice Fishing

Feeding Birds

Golden Hour

Remember the Dress

Cafe

Elk

Elk monument near Central Stadium. For 35 or so years the monument stood here without antlers.

Sleds

Sleighs are the best transport option for kids in winter.

Space

"Pioneer" cinema hall. The space exploration theme remains important for Russians – everyone remembers that USSR was the first country to send a man into space. Despite the fact that the Russian space industry is developing much slower than in Soviet times, it's still a reason for people to be proud of their country.

Funeral

My grandma's brother died and this was the funeral. I didn't know him very well, but he was a good man. The whole family gathers together for a last farewell. In the past, big families lived near each other and did a lot together, but nowadays they mostly meet only at weddings or funerals.

Ob

Ob river.

Closet

Another photo from the Everyday Life Museum in Akademgorodok. Dressing room.

Store

Anastasia Beznosova is the owner and founder of the Everyday Life Museum in Akademgorodok. Her aim is to collect artifacts and stories about people's life and to share them with guests and friends. There are a lot of events happening in the museum: celebration of numerous holidays, historical reconstruction, fashion events, etc. The museum has not existed for very long, but its already an important place in Akademgorodok's cultural landscape. In her "other life," Anastasia is a business woman and head of a branch of one of the biggest IT-companies.

Night

Night scene, -30°C outside.

Fur

Fur coat on the bus.

Smoke

The Ob River has it source in the Altai region and flows to the Kara Sea (on the Arctic Ocean). Novosibirsk was founded because of the Ob River as well. First it was a little settlement of railway builders who built a bridge across the river.

Train

In the subway. The city's subway was built in the 1980s and changed the transport system drastically.

Snow

Novosibirsk, Russia. Ferris wheel on the Ob river shore, illuminated in the night.

Magnify

Sergey looks at the rare coin from his collection. This coin was found somewhere in Russia and dates to Nazi Germany times. Sergey studies sociology at Novosibirsk State University in Akademgorodok – a district of Novosibirsk which is in fact an another, scientific town. Sergey is numismatist, collecting coins and notes has been his hobby since childhood. He's also very interested in history, data analysis, etc. This is typical for Akademgorodok, which was founded by scientists and the spirit is still here.

Church

St. Nicholas Chapel. This was the geographical center of the former Russian Empire. After the empire's fall, the center moved to the east. This chapel was destroyed in Soviet times and then rebuilt.

Carousel

Park attractions covered with snow. They will start work again in the spring. Winters in Siberia are so cold because of the strong continental climate. The average temperature in winter is about -20°C, but sometimes it's -30 (like on this day) or even -40°C.

Pelmeni

Preparing homemade pelmeni in a Tchaikovsky apartment.

Tubing

Tchaikovsky is known for its sporting traditions, particularly those during winter. While the sports centers attract professionals, locals are not that far removed from the professionals and ring in the New Year with active outdoor activities. From the first days of January, real Tchaikovsky residents are out on the cross country trails, skating, or hopping on their snowboards. The laziest among us will take to innertubes.

Banya

A Tchaikovsky private banya.

Ice Fisherman

Winter ice fishing, one of Tchaikovsky residents' top winter passions. For many avid fishermen, the winter season begins with the first, thin layer of ice in fall, and ends with fascinating excursions on ice flows in the spring.

Let's Dance!

Tchaikovsky teenagers celebrate the end of the year, dancing at a school dance club.

Snow Maidens

The Children's Musical Collective prepares for the pre-New Year performance in a Tchaikovsky school.

Glory Monument

The WWII monument nicknamed "Panikovsky with Goose".

Snow Path

Dancer

Sledding

Church

Train

Village

Red Fence

HiRise

Laundry

Bus Stop

Smokestack

Miass

View of the Miass River in Metallurgical district. Without exaggeration, this is one the main waterways of the Southern Urals and the main river of Chelyabinsk. It's length within the city is 36 km.

Ural Kuznitsa

Deep in the industrial hole. View of the plant Ural Kuznitsa. This is the largest Russian manufacturer of drop-forged products made of special steels and alloys. The plant produces the materials for rocket and space industry, aviation, oil and gas engineering, chemical, food and other industries.

Metallurgical

Morning in Metallurgical district of Chelyabinsk. Even by standards of a region with such significant industrial history, this district stands out from other urban districts because of its industrial potential. Almost 40% of the industrial production in Chelyabinsk is concentrated here.

Kiosk

Morning! A street kiosk with artificial flowers on the market in the center of the city.

Playground

Chelyabinsk is a million-plus city with an industrial background. A hard city, as many Russians like to say (however, nobody in Chelyabinsk likes the expression). This is a children's park in the Metallurgical district (founded 1947). A fabulous place.

Rocks

70 years ago this was the labor camp Bakallag. Most of the prisoners were Russian Germans resettled from the Volga region. They built many factories in Chelyabinsk (metallurgical, zinc, coke-chemical etc), and one of the camp places was the quarry. The worked hard, often only using their hands; the stones were used for road construction. In the 1970's, this quarry became a popular holiday destination for people in the Metallurgical district. Today it's a fishing spot for locals.

River

A river view a la Shishkin. Kashtaksky Forest is one of the most beautiful and popular destinations for residents of Metallurgical district in the suburbs of Chelyabinsk. It's a natural monument of regional importance located on the right bank of Miass River.

Swans

Generally speaking, I like to walk around Chelyabinsk industrial areas. Sometimes you can chance upon something unexpected. For example, fences with painted landscapes and swans.

Skyscrapers

Skyscrapers in Chelyabinsk. The Metallurgical district where I live is quite removed from the main part of the city, and I don't visit the center very often. That's why I'm always amazed at the new buildings.

Matryona

About 20% of residents are pensioners. Many of them spend all their time at home, and their main contact  with the outside world is through newspapers and television. For example, a veteran of the Second World War Matryona Ivanovna (94 years old) loves to read the Evening Yekaterinburg newspaper, to watch the Wheel of Fortune, and Let's Get Married! TV shows. She moved to Yekaterinburg seven years ago from Kirov, to be near her daughter, when her husband died. Six months ago Matryona Ivanovna broke her leg, but fully recovered in just a couple of months. Can you imagine how strong the will to live is in such a woman?

Fire

The burning of a scarecrow is an obligatory ritual that marks the end of Maslenitsa. Usually it turns into a feast for the whole day. It is also the so-called Forgiveness Sunday – a day when all ask each other's forgiveness for the harmful things they have done in the past year. It is an excellent opportunity to make peace with someone.

Cityscape

Yekaterinburg is the capital of the Urals, the fourth largest city in Russia, and a big economical and industrial center. It had sought to host EXPO-2020, and it will host games in the 2018 World Cup. It is a Russian city that selected its mayor itself, thereby marking its freedom-loving character. The amount of skyscrapers here is starting to surpass the number of historical buildings, among which there are examples of Ural Constructivism. In 2015, the Third Ural Industrial Biennial of Contemporary Art will take place here. It is a city with a lot of cultural activities such as street-art, in particular, the works of Timofey Radya.

Michael J

Yekaterinburg is a city of numerous and sometimes unexpected monuments. There are monuments to to Michael Jackson, Vladimir Vysotsky, Gena Bukin, a shoe seller from the TV series "Happy Together". To the worker who gets out of the well, and even to the credit card. You can meet them in any part of a city (not necessarily in the center), and also in business and shopping centers. 

Maslenitsa

Maslenitsa. Every family bakes pancakes and sets a table. At the end of the week, people burn a scarecrow, which marks the end of a long winter and the beginning of long-awaited spring.

Iset River

The Iset river is a gathering place for Yekaterinburg residents at any time of the year. It doesn't freeze in winter and goes all the way through the very city centre, so you can take pleasure in feeding the local birds. The flow of the Iset river is controlled by a famous dam, situated on Lenin Street, forming a city pond.

Mark

The desire to leave one's mark in history can appear in surprising places. If you drive from Yekaterinburg to Nizhny Tagil, such marks can be seen on the mountains along the road. Each stone is inscribed with the names of people who passed. It feels most impressive in one's childhood, because it is unclear how had they ended up here.

Snowboarder

Yekaterinburg is surrounded by mountains, and winter here is very long. That is why everyone does winter sports from a young age: skiing, skating and snowboarding. Winter sport lovers, as a rule, don't leave their equipment at home, and are extremely avid.

Lenin

The local statue to Lenin stands in Red Square. Locals joke that Lenin is pointing toward Korovniki jail. Which is true.

Theater

Russia's first theater was founded in Yaroslavl in 1750, by Fyodor Volkov. The present building was built in 1911. At left is a monument to Volkov that locals call 'Bricks' because... of the shape of its buttocks.

Birds

Girl stands on a windowsill and laughs and points at every bird flying by the window.

Kommunalka

One of a few remaining communal houses in Yaroslavl. It has a long corridor with small rooms, a general toilet and kitchen on each floor. They're very old and the local government has for many years promised to demolish them.

Cakes

My grandmother making traditional Russian cakes stuffed with cabbage and apple. It takes half of day. She learned the recipe from her mother.

Play

Making of decorations for the play, "A Month in the Village" at Volkov's Theatre. In this show, the audience will sit on the stage with the actors.

Fisherman

Fisherman going out onto the ice of the Kotorosl River, in theh historic center of Yaroslavl. Legend has it that somewhere near here, a thousand years ago, the city's founder, Prince Yaroslav the Wise killed a bear that attacked him.

Sledding

Children sled down a hill near the church of the Savior.

Granny Shura

Granny Shura is 95 years old. With her big family she leaves in Tutaev – a small town astride the Volga river. There is no bridge and the ferry boat only crosses the river in summer. Locals are forced to make a 70 km trip via Yaroslavl's bridge to get to the other side of town.

Dusya

Dusya the raccoon during a wedding photo shoot near the Eternal Flam

Hockey

Boys from Yaroslavl's provincial gymnasium playing hockey with ball.

Cats

St. Petersburg's cats are relatives to Yaroslavl's cats because, after the Nazi blockade of Petersburg there were no cats left in the city on the Neva. So the government sent two railway cars full of cats from Yaroslavl to St. Petersburg, to take on the rodents.

More Winter

It just goes on and on in Siberia.

Play

Playing outside once the weather is warmer.

Lenin

There are many interesting episodes in Tyumen history concerning Lenin. During the war, his body was evacuated to here from Moscow. His sarcophagus arrived in Tyumen on July 10, 1941 and was stored in the building of the agricultural college. In addition, in 1979 the tallest bronze monument honoring Lenin – 15.5 meters – was constructed in Tyumen.

Winter

Snow. Icicles. The usual thing.

Swimming

You have to get your laps in, even in Tyumen.

Working

Along the river.

Lada

Lada cars are still everywhere.

Flood

Tyumen is located on the banks of the Tura river, which flows into the Tobol. Yermak's conquest of the Siberian khanate began from Tura. They say there are no fish in the river, which is 80-200 meters wide and 6 meters deep. Girls play on a flooded section of the embankment.

Shopping

Beach

Signs

Port

Coffee

Docks

Crab

Vendor

Snow

Roadway

Sunset

Skyline

Ship

House

Books by Peter Aleshkovsky

Peter Aleshkovsky has authored a dozen books. Three of his works (Skunk, A Life, and Fish: A History of One Migration, and Stargorod) and several of his articles have been translated into English. He has four times been shortlisted for Russia's most prestigious book award, the Russian Booker.

Students

Beslan. Memoria at the old school No. 1.

Gym

Beslan. The gym in the old school No. 1 where hostages were taken on the morning of Sept. 1, 2004, during a ceremony held to inaugurate the new academic year.

Old School

Beslan. The old school No. 1.

Records to Edit

Sun

Tree

Trees

House

Shadow

Birds

Smoking

Graffiti

Graffiti featuring a replica of Yevgeni Khaldei's photograph, Raising the flag over the Reichstag, on the wall in an undercrossing in downtown Volgograd.

Couple

Anastasiya Nikolayevna (89 years old) and Vasily Alexeyevich (87 years old) have lived together for 63 years as husband and wife. Vasily is an honorary railwayman, having devoted his entire life to this profession. Anastasiya worked as a paramedic all of her life. Now they live in a Gorkovsky township in the Sovietsky district of Volgograd. 

Family

Ordinary Volgograd family: grandfather and grandson.

Metrotram

Metrotram was invented by Volgograd, the longest city in the European part of Russia – about 80 km. If you want to go from north to south, use the speed tram which transforms into a metro in the downtown.

Rodina Mat

The Motherland is calling! (Родина мать - зовёт!)

Brewer

This is Andrey @andreyashma. His band, Anabaena, became very famous in Volgograd. Then he moved to Moscow, where he was a barista at @ukuleleshnaya. After that he moved back to Volgograd and opened a craft beer bar named @alyaskabar. It is the best place in the city. 

Guide

Tatiana is a guide in the Stalin Museum on Mamaev Kurgan in Volgograd.

Car

The car passes by the bridge under Volgograd railway station.

Cheese

Cafe

Having a rest in a cozy secret place with books and ginger tea. There is Apfelhaven cafe, which means Apple orchard in Danish. It is not so easy to find it among the monotonous buildings.

Fortress

Smolensk Fortress.

Orchard

Newton would have liked this apple orchard in the centre of the noisy town. Apples constantly fall to the ground and nobody tastes them but the birds. 

Dnepr

In the picture you can see the Dnepr river.

Petrovichi

This is the village of Petrovichi, next to my hometown in Smolensk region. The stone marks the place where, in 1920, Isaac Asimov was born. His parents were Jewish millers, they left the USSR and emigrated to the US when Isaac was just three years old. Asimov grew up in New York, never spoke Russian and became a professor of biochemistry and of course a very famous writer. Almost all of the Jewish people who did not leave this region were killed by the Nazis during the Second World War. I took some red apples from a very old apple tree. ate one and put the others on the monument to commemorate the writer and his people.

Roof

Six years ago my friends and I went up onto the roof of nine-storey house. We held a picnic with wine, fruits and a hookah, or shisha. Hardly had we started, when the door to the roof opened and giant pitbull appeared. It rushed at us, and we run away like mad... Well, today the very Tatiana took me to the roof of the same nine-storey building. She is a roofer, that means she likes to explore roofs. Once she spent a night in a tent pitched on a roof. Tatiana practices quiet and pacific urban exploration and never forces doors and locks. Today, Tatiana baked an apple pie and made an herbal tea, and we had wonderful five-o'clock tea on the roof.

Artist

We had the good fortune to get to know a fine man and gifted artist, Anatoly Kovalev. We visited his uncommon studio in an ordinary 5-storey house. The artist was working on a scenic bas-relief to be mounted above a fire-place. He showed us his paintings and bas-reliefs, old furniture that needed to be restored, old-fashioned hanging clocks and a skillful embroidery. What a pleasure to live and to work among things having a very rich history.

Milk Machine

This is a vending machine that sells whole milk in special way. You pay, then put a bottle under the faucet and then get your milk, which is pretty good. It costs 40 rubles (or 60 US cents) per liter. 

Waiting

Last week I visited a church to attend service and talk with a priest, but I found the church almost empty. A notice on the door said that service would be in another church. I ran there and saw hundreds of people staying in the sandy field. They were waiting for the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia; or the head of the Russian Orthodox Church. He was coming to consecrate a place in Smolensk where young Prince Gleb was killed 1000 years ago. According to the Chronicle, Gleb was murdered by his elder brother Sviatopolk during the internecine war for the Kiev throne. Saint Gleb and his brother Saint Boris (also killed) are the patron saints of all Russian princes. In the photo: waiting for the Patriarch.

Summer

People spend the last warm days of summer at the sea coast.

Kite

Parent and child flying a kite on the ice of frozen bay.

Paraglider

Paraglider gets ready to fly at the Nyukla beach.

Okhotsk

Magadan is located at the opposite side from Kaliningrad of our great Motherland - in the Russian Far East. From both sides the city is surrounded by the Sea of Okhotsk.

Fishing

People fishing from a wrecked ship during full tide.

Seymchan

Near Seymchan (80 km) is Ust'-Srendekanskaya HHP.

Hills

Magadan is surrounded by hills. Locals calls them sopki. Any direction you look, you see hills on the horizon. Or the sea.

Markets

Chinese markets were really popular in Magadan (like at the whole Russian Far East). Now open-air markets are closing and salespeople are moving to markets inside buildings.

Shore

Frozen shoreline of the Sea of Okhotsk.

Farmer

Farmer selling last harvest at the local market.

Ice Wall

Ice wall on the Sea of Okhotsk shoreline. A freezing mountain stream creates a beautiful ice wall.

Dog

It's not rare to meet a dog wearing a warm suit in winter.

Goats

Shells

Wheels

Grasses

Monument

Sunlight

Beach

Slide

Temple

Bikes

Window

Girl with a Dog

Monument to Peresvet

General's House

Zatei Club

Museum

Uncle Misha

Horse

Crystal Church

Shop

Crystal Iconostasis

Theater

Babushka

Bus

Reconstruction

More Students

Church

Students and Lenin

Football Fans

Gagarin and Football Fans

Framed

Immortal Monument Mound

Students

Clouds

Ufa develops very actively. There are a lot of new buildings, hotels and modern districts, but still you can find ancient houses and buildings in the city center.

Lenin

The Lenin square is located in the center of the city, in front of the building of the City Administration. All major events take place here - the New Year celebration, The Victory Day, all main concerts. Every day hundreds of people come here to spend time. 

Construction

Construction workers repair a building in center of Ufa.

Children

I met these children at last day of my visit to Ufa. They were lonely playing in the yard, far away from big politics and summits.

Reading

A girl reads a book in her mother's small sewing workshop, situated on the outskirts of Ufa. 

Wedding

The most popular month for wedding in Bashkortostan is August (~6000), the most unpopular month is May (~1100). In 2014, more than 60.000 children were born in this region. 

Christina

If you walk along the quay you will definitely see this proud woman in the incredible dress. Her name is Christina and everyone in Uglich knows her. She sews all her clothes herself and likes to attract attention and to pose for photographers and tourists. Christina says that she is waiting for Prince Harry, who will one day arrive on a cruise ship to marry her.

Boats

Uglich is a small and cozy town on the Volga river in Yaroslavl region. It's a touristy place, a lot of people include it (unnoficially) in the Golden Ring - a group of ancient Russia towns to northeast of Moscow. Every day (in the summer) you can see at least one cruise ship with tourists docked at the wharf. They come in the morning and leave at sunset.

Trinkets

In the park next to the quaу there is small market specially set up for tourists. You can buy magnets, toys, antiques and different souvenirs. Some of them are locally made, but others are made in China, so you can find them in other Russian cities too.

Sleep

The cheapest hotel in Uglich will cost you 350 rubles (about 5 euro) per night. For this price you get a bed, linen, towel and a shared shower. Lowly, but acceptable.

Church

Uglich has its own Kremlin. You won't see a big wall, only two churches, a Duke's chamber and parliament. You can make out the traces of a moat, so it looks like Uglich Kremlin was on an island, surrounded by two small rivers and the Volga. In the photo you can see the Church of Prince Dmitry on Spilled Blood. It was built on the place where Prince Dmitry was murdered (or died of an epileptic fit) 1591. He was the last in Ryurikid dynasty, so his death led to the Time of Troubles.

Church and Tree

A closer view of Vvedensky Sobor, which is currently the only working Orthodox church in the city.

Iconostasis

The carved iconostasis inside Vvedensky Sobor. It was made in 1693 in the Moscow workshop of Grigory Ivanov. The icons themselves were painted by Stepan Narykov, a serf of the Stroganovs who studied abroad. 

Fresco in Vvedensky

A damaged fresco inside Vvedensky Sobor.

Flipping for Solvychegodsk

Devotees of parkour at the city's welcome sign.

Snow Scene

The Vychegda River and the fragment of an abandoned church.

Cat

A cat warms itself on a teplotrass (above-ground heating pipe).

Windows

Fragment of a building facade.

Log house

A typical wooden home build in the city's Soviet era.

Snowdrop Cycle

A snow-bound motorcyle. It may or may not start up again in spring.

Snowdrop

Snowcovered car. This one won't likely be starting up in spring.

Fresco

A fresco inside Blagoveshchensky Sobor.

Inside Church

Inside Blagoveshchensky Sobor. 

River

Blagoveshchensky Sobor (Church of the Annunciation), construction of this complex stretched from in the second half of the sixteenth century into the end of the nineteenth century. Again, it was built with Stroganov money. The church is not currently active and is a museum. 

Window

View out a window onto Vvedensky Sobor.

Church

Vvedensky Sobor (Church of the Presentation of the Virgin). A wooden church of this name was built by the Stroganovs in 1565, on the banks of the river Solonikha (Usolka). In 1685-93, a new stone church was built to replace it (actually its successor) higher up on the banks. It was the first building built in so-called Stroganov Rococco.

Trees

There are many places in Voronezh that you can go for a walk and feel like you are not in a city at all. 

Swimming

Within the city limits there is no place where, officially, one can swim, since the condition of the water in the reservoir is less than optimal. The beach at Gorky Sanatorium is one of the few places where people are not afraid to swim, even though it is at the very head of the reservoir.

Parade

At the beginning of June, Voronezh has an International Platonov Arts Festival. The city hosts modern productions by European and Russian theaters, musicians, exhibitions and a parade of street performers.

Yoga

In the summer, the city parks host free sport activities. At one of our yoga sessions a pup showed up and gave us master class in downward facing dog.

Meat

In small stores one can still find old Soviet counters and equipment. You feel almost as if you are traveling back in time.

Ice

There is an island in the middle of the reservoir, which has a memorial cross, as well as picnic tables. Young couples often come here to get photographed. But you can only get there across the ice or in a boat.

Ship

In the middle of the Voronezh Reservoir is a monument to the Mercury. It is barely visible from the shore and can only be visited by boat or, when the reservoir has frozen over, on foot. Unfortunately, vandals regularly damage it.

Bikers

New Year's Bike Parade, in which locals gather for a costumed ride. Even a two week layer of snow did not stop them.

Snow

Voronezh is in Russia's moderate climate belt. Yet a few times each winter there are serious snows, which essentially paralyze the city.

Bird's Eye View

The private sector. Therae are many private homes surrounding the reservoir. Several of them have been there for hundreds of years, while others are torn down and restored. Historically, the city arose along the river, which later was turned into a reservoir.

Waiting

If you enjoy doing photography of real life, it's all there at Kamchatka airport. Fresh air, people and a camera in your hands. Go for it!

Plane

And when you are faced with leaving this gorgeous place, you try to remember the amazing curves of the volcanos, to suck down the fresh air and absolutely do not hurry leave this unforgettable place.

Long view

There are few places like Kamchatka, where you want to forget about technology and just enjoy being one with nature.

Volcano view

If you want to see the amazing beauty of fumarole and barrancos, you need to walk along the caldera to the cone of the volcano, then enter the heart of the crater. The most famous volcanoes are: Gorely-1829m, Mutnovsky-2323m, Klyuchevskaya Sopka-4853m, Koriaksky Volcano-3456m, Avacha volcano-2741m, Tolbachik-3682m.

Quiet moment

Any travel tests your limits. Support and help from people you don't know give you strength. Everyone from our team passed all their Kamchatka tests.

Hike

There were all sorts of interesting people on our trip: a USSR champion of track and field, an EMS doctor who saves people from hard to reach places, a postal worker, and an airport dispatcher. Such a rich collection of people our country has.

Hikers

Hundreds of people from all over the world come to Kamchatka, especially in August as the region has a short summer. The region's unique natural beauty is in the good hands of volunteers and locals who make you feel safe and take good care of the land.

Sun worshipper

Kamchatka's mountains are painted by Mother Nature with grass, snow, and sand. It blows your mind. It reminds looks like cow hides. Courageous snowboarders can ride here all year round.

Cellphone

As Kamchatka is a peninsula, the connection with mainland is mostly by water or air. People living there wake up 9 hours earlier than people in the capital. Business in Kamchatka region is primarily based on the sea, very similar to our native Sakhalin island.

Volcano

Raven Kutkh Father of Kamchatka. Flying over the water, Kutkh ordered his son to become the land, then he put on his ski and went along the surface. Where he went, different ravines, caves,valleys appeared. And the high mountains were at the edges of the earth. Kutkh breathed his warmth into the mountains as everything was saved and not frozen. The Great Raven covered with mysterious smoke this country and left to the distant Arctic Ocean. All this is only folk legend, but sometimes you can see the raven over Kamchatka, flying high in the sky.

Laundry

It is interesting how people put their linen out to dry in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. The water on Kamchatka is rich with minerals, hydrogen sulphid, and radon. There are both natural and developed hot springs here.

Waves

They say that people who do not go into the Pacific Ocean and do not see a bear in the wild, they have not truly been to Kamchatka. Even now we hear the sound of the peninsula's waves and the scary sounds of the master of taiga (the bear) approaching.

Sleeping

Sergey was born on Kamchatka. After graduation he entered the Suvorov Military school, after finishing there, he wants to return to the Far East, specifically Ussuriisk. When on vacation he works as tutor and guide on Kamchatka excursions with his dog Deyzee, who protected us from real bears. Sergey has great and bright future.

Plane view

If you have not decided where to spend your summer vacation, consider Kamchatka, a land of wild nature, kind people, democratic prices, and emotions which will stay with you forever.

Bird

How do people find one another? We met through Instagram, and we would like to thank all Instagram creators. One spring day, while looking through random photos, we found each other... just a little over a year later, on September 5, we got married. Accidents are never accidental.

Tent

Hello everyone. One week ago we, Alexander and Anastasia, were married and we spent our pre-wedding trip was not in some warm place, but on Kamchatka. We'd like to share some photos from our trip with you.

Why the E?

You can often meet such a beautiful letter "E" in Krasnodar. The reason is that earlier Krasnodar was named Yekaterinodar, because Yekaterina the great presented these lands to Cossacks (though my teacher of history told it was more like sending them into exile). Not so long ago authorities wanted to rename Krasnodar as Yekaterinodar, but locals didn't want to. And now these "E"s are everywhere. 

Winter

Snow in winter is a rare occasion in Krasnodar, so when snow falls everyone hurries to put it to good use. 

Bird man

There is a place near Sennoy Market where you can rent an apartment for hours or days. Mostly elderly women are involved in this business but also you can always meet there this man. He feeds pigeons that sit right on his head, says that they like chocolate with coffee, says that people smile and take photos of him and what else - he offered to find me a good husband. Earlier there was a pineapple lying in a flowerbed nearby. I'm sure he had something to do with it.

Fight you will

These are fantasy role players, whom you can meet in the Botanical garden near the Agricultural institute. Sometimes they organize big games.

Sennoy Market

This is Sennoy market, where you can buy the freshest and the most delicious products. Points of interest: saleslady Venera, fresh pomegranate juice, and Georgian eating house near the entrance.

Carpet

In Krasnodar people love to decorate their gardens. This is not the best example, but here there is a carpet and artificial lilies. 

Eternal Flame

Cadets are changing the guard at the eternal flame. Behind the flame there is the oldest cemetery in Krasnodar - Vsesvyatskoye. It was founded in early 1830s.

Yard

The centre of Krasnodar is abundant in cosy old yards, many of which remind me of Georgia. There would be laundry drying in the wind, many doors would be left unlocked, with children playing by the water wells.

Delete Record

Insert Record

Add Record

Update Record

Edit Record

Homeward

My short journey to Kabardino-Balkaria has come to the end. I am returning home to Vladikavkaz by minivan.

Walking

Tired, but happy citizens are in a hurry to get home after their hard working day. 

Rain

Rain and umbrellas. A melancholy day in Nalchik. 

Dogs

There are many stray dogs in Nalchik's streets.

Market

Markets are very popular, offering low prices and large variety versus shops and supermarkets.

Nostalgia

The feeling of 90's nostalgia will never leave you in Nalchik. It seems that you've just made a journey through time and space.

Boys

David, Astemir and Mansoor send their regards. 

Night

Nalchik is situated in the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains and one feature of its climate is wide daily variation in air temperature, especially in summer. 

Nalchik

Nalchik is the capital of Kabardino-Balkaria.It was founded in 1724. It is mountain resort town with many sanatoriums, health resorts, mineral springs and unique parks. The population of Nalchik is 238 000 and the major ethnic groups are Kabardinians, Balkars, Russians, Ossetians and others. 

Sky

Kabardino-Balkaria borders Stavropolskiy Kray in the North, Georgia in the South, North Ossetia in the East and in the South-East, Karachay-Cherkessia in the West.

Tower

Kemerovo television center began being built in 1956 (studio and two buildings). In 1958 it began testing its television equipment. The first broadcast was the film "The Ulyanov family". 

Statue

The 12-meter high monument "In Memory of the Fallen Miners", by recently deceased sculptor Ernst Neizvestny. It is on Red Hill, on the banks of the Tom river, where the first coal was discovered here. 

Cow

This day started in the mining town of Berezovsky (30 km from Kemerovo). In fact it is several villages united into one administrative unit. But, as in the city, Berezovsky has a music school that is rightly proud of its graduates. Walking through the street by an apartment complex, cows are just a normal part of the local landscape. 

Kids

Girls are always girls. Whatever they are doing, they immediately sense a camera is near and begin to pose. 

Freeway

When you rarely leave your home city, and not for very long, you do not immediately notice the changes that occur in it day by day. But then one day you take a good look around and realize how much things have changed: the new high-rises, new transport interchanges and bypasses. The city is growing. Everything changes. 

Bus Stop

Bus stop at a villages of Berezovsky city. Residents arrive at their bust early, so as not miss the bus to the regional center. As a result, bus stops become places for meetings, discussions and rumors. There is talk of jobs, courtyards, children. Generally, people are busy and have no time to talk, but at the bus stop you can learn a lot from each other. 

Vadim Markelov

Businessman, producer of barbells and weight machines, Petrozavodsk

I am not ready to give some sort of high-falutin answer. Patriotism – what is it? Love for one’s country, we love it; the government, not so much, because we can distinguish between the two. We love the place we live, and all of those who surround us. This is a fact. But what patriotism is, I don’t know... I just don’t know what patriotism is, truly. That is all.

Valentin Svatovoy

Owner of Valentine’s bakery, Petrozavodsk

Unequivocally. There’s no need to shy from this. I am a patriot of the land where I live, because I am proud of what was done before me, and I need to do things that those who come after me will be proud of.

Leonid Baluyev

Blacksmith, Novaya Ladoga

I am not a patriot. I am a Jehovah’s Witness. I serve God.

Yakov Somov

Co-founder and general director of Lektorium MOOC project, St. Petersburg

In general, it's rude to ask a person if he is a patriot or not. I am a patriot of public education. But does that mean I am a patriot? I don't know. I work in my country, I work for it. I also work for the whole world. Yes, I am probably a patriot. In my circles, it is not proper to ask someone if they are a patriot or not. You either do good work, or don't do good work. I do good work for my country, including for the place where I studied. I graduated from this school in 2000, and have been working here for seven years. And so I am investing in the children who study here. And I work with the teachers who teach here. You've caught me off guard. You have, probably, a very well-formed question here.

Valeria Miloslavskaya

Tea Sommelier, St. Petersburg

I am a patriot of my country. Really, this is a very strange question. Can I have a moment? Because I truly love my country, my relatives, and they live here. And therefore I adore my country. I cannot tear myself away from my relatives, my work, my friends.

Sergei Troyanovsky

Historian and deputy director of the Kremlin Museum, Veliky Novgorod

This is a very difficult question. Because of “Country or Death,” as Fidel Castro said, when he conquered Cuba. To be a patriot does not mean to hate other nations, other peoples. To be a patriot means to love one’s own. I love my country a great deal. I am by birth half Belarusan and half Russian and have many relatives in Ukraine. And I cannot say that I am a patriot of the Russian Federation of today. I love people in general. That is what a patriot is, in my opinion. 

Nadezhda Alexeyeva

Director and artistic director of the Maly Theater, Veliki Novgorod

Patriotism is a very personal feeling, just like religion. I don’t want to rank myself among the patrios that yell from every television, in all the mass media, that this is some kind of requirement. Yet recently I have been asking myself this question quite often. It has simply slashed me, because I pose this question to myself and answer that “yes, of course, I am a patriot and reside in that sphere of culture that is my motherland, and a reside among a sphere of people that truly comprises for me my small motherland.” From these small things the whole of everything is created. And my understanding of “motherland,” I repeat, is for me mainly tied to the people and and our culture. Therefore, yes. And in this regard, if I were answering a question about religion, I would also answer unequivocally. Unequivocal in the sense not becasue I don’t belive in God, but because this too is a very personal question. And nevertheless, I answer it, “Yes, of course.” But I don’t want to rank myself among patriots who yell about Russian lands. I want to rank myself among patriots who speak of Russian culture. First and foremost, this is people, our asset, human and rich. Оf course it is our people.

Vladimir Simonov

Feldsher (primary care physician). Krasniye Stanki village

I don't get it, why a patriot? I'm a typical person, doing his work honesty with respect to his people. Whether this is a patriot or not, I cannot say. 

Alexandra Turchenkova

Vocal student at the Gnesin Academy of Music, Moscow

I am now am studying in the Gnesin Academy, an academy which has a really huge musical tradition. And for a musician, there should be no limits, a musician should create and be capable of expressing herself. And I, of course, am lucky to have been born in Russia, and to know Russian, to be able to interpret Russian music, because I can feel it. I feel that the main patriotism of a musician is to be able to perform Russian music. But, of course, to always seek to widen her horizons and be engaged in music more generally, that is in its broadest sense.

Marina Kozlova

Jurist, single mother, mother of Lev and Marta, Moscow

I cannot call myself a patriot. I believe [the author Sergei] Dovlatov said something about uniting people on the basis of nationality or the place where they live – that it is at the very least stupid. People should unite around and be proud of other sorts of things. I am not a patriot.

Valery Nikolaev and Larisa Ilyinikh

University professor, Oryol (Valery)

I am a patriot of my city and my country. Why? Of course there are many shortcomings and many problems in our country, but I probably don’t know a better country than Russia. 

Economist, Oryol (Larisa)

I too am a patriot of my city and country. Most likely because I was born here and my famly and all of my life is here, and because I like it here. 

Larisa Safronova

Editor of the newspaper Elektron-TV, Krymsk

I can say that I love Russia. But patriot, non-patriot, there are so many definitions of this word, both as a curse and as praise. Therefore I love my motherland and divide it into rulers and people, into what I have loved since childhood: school, parents, the city where I was born and raised, and in which I now live. That is everything that I love. But to be a patriot, does that mean to defend the national interests of one’s country? If they are just, then yes, I will defend it to the last. IF not, then I will also defend it. Perhaps that’s simply how we are built. Mine, ours. That’s all.

Ksenia Tsukareva

Deputy Director for Marketing and PR, Sochi Hockey Club

I can call myself a patriot, because I am committed to my family, my business. I give my full 100 percent not because that is what is needed, but because that is what I want. Because I truly believe that if it comes from within, then it is much stronger than any affixed stamp of citizenship or responsibility. Patriotism is that which comes from within.

Andrei Pletnev

Professional yachtsman, boat owner, Novorossiysk

Naturally, I can call myself a patriot. A patriot of my country, a patriot of the sport of sailing. And I make every effort so that everything I love lives, grows and prospers.

Shop

Art Store in the Pryanichniy Trading Rows (the so-called Gingerbread Rows). At his dacha, my father makes rag rugs. He cuts up pieces of cloth that he hates to throw away, puts them into colourful balls and in one evening he makes a homey colourful rug, stitching it together with a needle. You can buy similar rugs in Kostroma as well as birchbark boxes, wooden spoons, matryoshka dolls, clayware, linen shirts and many other things.

Kids

Dema Bilan, a Russian celebrity, visited our city. He invited kids with autism into his dressing room. Sasha, pictured, longed for it more than anyone – he was peeping through the hole onto the stage, shuddering when he heard footsteps. Tasya was starving and was weeping "Dema, help me." Lyosha was anxious and thought that everyone would have a stroke when Dema appeared. Vanya put his finger into the hole and it got stuck. Tanya knew all the lyrics by heart. 

Pies

Pies in Russia express hospitality and depth of the Russian soul. By tradition, pies are made on Sundays when all routine duties are done and everyone in the family can gather at the dining table. Secret recipes are passed from generation to generation. These are pies for a holiday celebration.

Baptism

Andrey puts a crucifix necklace on his goddaughter during her baptism. At the St. John the Theologian Church.

Banya

Sergey goes to the banya every weekend. Sometimes he goes with friends but mostly he goes alone. "It's quieter and I am able to think about what has happened during the week, to settle my mind. My inner world is in peace and quiet, so to say. My wife makes me mint tea with honey, which I bring in a thermos. I always buy an evergreen branch for lashing myself."

Ice Fishing

Fishing on the Volga River near Ipatiev Monastery. "During my holiday I fish every day," the fellow says. "I get up early so that I am at the river by 6. Today nothing is biting and I have only managed to catch a few skimmer beams. I am heading home. On the weekend I caught a break: 2 kilos worth!"

Fish

Grand Molochny (Milkwater) Trading Rows. If you arrive in Kostroma without a rod or net, no need to worry. There are two ways out. . First, I can point you to a street with a shop where you can buy anything from a boat to a worm. Second, there is this street where you can buy any freshwater fish you like.

Dancers

Guys from the Agricultural Academy prepare to dance for children with disabilities.

Dressing

Getting dressed in the morning.

Guard

Lazhechnikova Street and its constant guard Vladimir Ivanovich Starikov, who has been playing the role of a nineteenth century policeman here for eight years. When he was offered the post, he didn't say anything to his relatives. His wife saw him just by chance and was astonished. Gradually she got used to her husband's popularity, but is now trying to persuade him to leave the post, due to his advanced age. But Vladimir Ivanovich can't imagine his life without his work; the booth has become his second home. He doesn't fear frost and heat, and he likes meeting new, interesting people. He may have his photos taken with 15-20 tourists a day; he is easily recognizable from his bronze face and gorgeous mustache. 

Beach

This beach on the bank of Kolomna River was officially closed for 12 years due to the horrible condition of the water. But it has been renovated by the city at the cost of 700 thousand rubles. From the beach one can take in the beautiful sight of Marinkina Tower. This tower has an interesting legend, connected with the name of the beautiful Marina Mnishek, the wife of two False Dmitrys, who wanted to become a Russian queen. She was imprisoned in Marinkina Tower, but then mystically disappeared from it. People said she  was a kind of witch, who turned a black crow and flew away through a small tower windowr. Since that time, people see a huge black bird flying over Marinkina Tower.

Rita

Rita, who live in the old part of town, takes her pets for a walk every day. Her goats Muze & Anechka were very hungry and ate all these leaves from the bushes while I was asking their names. Rita is fond of raising goats and poultry. Her home business gives her an income, as goat milk and milk products are healthy and popular. But Rita doesn't want to open an office or a shop - she thinks it to be too expensive and unprofitable.

Alexei

For working out in Kolomna there are two specialized areas - in the central Park Mira and near the Skating Center. But Alexei Zhuravlev prefers a former military training area where there is still some sports equipment. He trains every day for about 2-3 hours. Workout competitions are held in Moscow. Alexei received silver and bronze medals in the gymbar category in the most recent Russian Championship.

Passage

Not far from Kolomna Kremlin, is the town's only underground passage . Not a lot of people go through it, especially in winter, when the steps of the passage are covered with ice. It's more convenient to run across the street - but dangerous because of heavy traffic. All year round a lot of small shops are open in the passage. They sell glasses, pet food, sweets, icons, jewelry and other goods. But the shop selling shawarma is the most interesting. The smell is so tasty!

Dolls

Many people know this house in Kolomna, though it is situated in the suburbs. It's impossible to pass it by: it is a true doll kingdom. And its queen is Margarita Lvovna Travkina, who has for many years collected dolls. She didn't intend to collect them until one day she saw a doll's legs sticking out of a garbage pail... Her soul couldn't pass it by, and she carried the doll home. There she washed it, brushed its hair and refurbished it. To this day she continues to collect and repair damaged toys. People bring old toys in various conditions, and she gives them a new life. Margarita Lvovna has two sons, grandchildren and a great grandson Vanechka. But she would also like a little girl, who would like to play with all these dolls...

Sculptor

Very talented people live in Kolomna. Sculptor Vladimir Zamalin worked as an architect and his hobby was wood carving. But wood is an expensive material for a pensioner, so now Vladimir makes his sculptures with styrofoam. For six years he has been making life-size figures of animals. Each sculpture takes about a month. The giraffe is the largest figure in Zamalin's garden - it's 5 meters high. Nearby are white bears, camel, zebra, penguin... The sculptor also makes figures of people: especially he's interested in making figures of famous people. Pushkin is already standing in his arbor, Stalin and Lenin are coming soon.

Kremlin Day

Celebration of the Day of Slavic written language and culture near the Kremlin wall.

Shwarma!

Lamb is a local favorite, especially in shwarma shops.

Baths

Taking the waters.

Spring

A hot spring.

Water

Tapping into mineral waters.

Car

Fishing

Under Construction

Garden Party

Workers

Skating

Direct hit!

Bus

Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. It is quite cold on streets now. The streets are mostly empty. People are waiting for the long-expected hot summer sun. There was snow on June 5.

Hands

In Lopatin lighthouse, located near the Nevelsk on the shores of the Tatar Strait. It was built by the Japanese. It is hard to explain the feelings that occur during the first climb to the top of the lighthouse. Fresh breeze, the sea, all the world is below you and even the seagulls fly beneath you. I want to come back there all time. I am a frequent guest of lighthouse and its residents the Komarov family. This time we met the son of the lighthouse keeper - Sergei. He spent his childhood at lighthouses. He studied on the mainland then served in the army, but still returned to Sakhalin and lighthouses.

Exit

There is only one underpass in all Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. It is located under a railway platform. It was dug by the Japanese then repaired in the Soviet era.

Some Tea

Mariya Fyodorovna has been dealing with the fishing industry for during 20 years. Now she sells fresh fish. Visiting her shop is like visiting a natural history gallery of the sea. 

Sunbeam

Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk railway station building. The front of this building was designed by Pacific Nation University teacher and architect Nataliya Savkova. The narrow-gauge railway goes from the capital to the north of Sakhalin and was built by the Japanese.

Family Portrait

People say that citizens of Sakhalin Island differ from other people, I can tell you that real Island people are strong spirited, purposeful and kind. This is an apartment in the seaport city of Korsakov. It is rather typical. The Kuznetsov family lives in this flat. The home is not so big but all members of family live friendly together. You can feel cosiness and warmth in this place. 

Fish

Our island can get lost on a map of the Russian Federation and worldmap. Many mainlanders in Russia know only fairy tales about Sakhalin. That the island looks like a fish on map is symbolic: fishing industry is one of the island's main industries.

Flight

Vzmorie village is located on shores of the Sea of Okhotsk. You can buy fresh crabs and very tasty bread here. The gate of a Japanese Shinto temple can be found in the village.

Dog

A fishing camp. 

Car

The village of Duye is where hard labor (katorga) began on Sakhalin. Currently, the village is closed. Residents were moved to other cities. This place has great historical value. Anatoly Yufkin was born in Duye. He worked in the mines and in the boiler room. He is not happy that he had to move to another city. He sincerely loves his old home.

State Seal

In 1869 Sakhalin was declared a place of hard labor. Anton Chekhov visited Sakhalin in 1890 and did a great social and scientific work surveying conditions on the island. "Sakhalin Island" showed that the island was a place of unbearable suffering. In 1908, four years after Chekhov's death, the island was declared free.

Peekaboo

Nogliki village. Workers in the oil and gas industry come here by train. After that they are sent to their work places. Indigenous people live in an area which is called "Kolkhoz."

Net

A fisherman who is waiting for a school of capelin. Fishing is done by hoop nets and drifters along the coast, in the evening or at night. A school of fish is attracted to light from a lighthouse or lamp. 

Wave

What is an island without the sea? The sea is everywhere. It is our life. There are two seas washing Sakhalin: the Sea of Okhotsk and the Japanese Sea.

Birds

Vladimirovka-Toyohara and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk are two names for one city in different times. The city is not so big. There are two main streets that run parallel to each other. Lenina Street and Mira Avenue. Interestingly, these parallel lines cross on one point and thus destroy all the laws about parallel lines. Actually there are a lot of strange things on our island.

Fisherwoman

This is Rezeda Ravilievna and her son. She is a social activist, fisherwoman and beautiful woman. She says:"There is less water every year in the Volga. Many little rivers"Ilmen" got dry and those rivers I swam in when I was a child have become a swamp. There are fewer fish. People say even there won't be roach ("vobla") in the rivers next year. What should we do? Who can help?"

Sunset

Sunset in the steppe. I live in the country. The village is called Starokucherganovka. Today, as in my childhood my friends and I stare after the sun on the steppe. But people complain because of a law of 2014 "About Regulation of the Time" it get's dark very early. This sunset was at 7:14 pm.

Garden

From my garden. What will we eat today?

Fisherwoman

This is Rezeda Ravilievna and her son. She is a social activist, fisherwoman and beautiful woman. She says:"There is less water every year in the Volga. Many little rivers"Ilmen" got dry and those rivers I swam in when I was a child have become a swamp. There are fewer fish. People say even there won't be roach ("vobla") in the rivers next year. What should we do? Who can help?"

Promenade

The central promenade in the city.

Sunset

Sunset on Lake Baskunchak, Astrakhan region. Behind Mount Bogdo, the highest point in the Caspian depression.

Water Tank

A local competition of "swimming" by unconventional means.

Eggplant

The favorite product in the summer is eggplant. They are fried with tomatoes, seasoned with a garlic sauce, mayonnaise or cheese. Also on the table is caviar made from eggplant. Bon appetit!

Market

I like walking through the market. This is Bolshie Isady. This market shows the contradictory feelings many locals have and see some of the problems that exist. You can taste the most delicious homemade cheese, marinated vegetables and the most important thing is you can eat in what I feel is the best cafe for Caucasian cuisine.

Salts

A man treating himself with salts in Lake Baskunchak.

Katun Banks

Tourists on the banks of the Katun River, Altai Republic.

Sema

Sema River in the Kamlak area, Altai Republic. 

Village

A typical Altai village. There aren't many big cities in the Altai Republic, most of the population lives in the villages. The first people started to settle in Altai region about 1.5 million years ago. 

More Chuysky

Chuysky Path, Altai Republic.

Seminsky

Cows at the forest edge near Seminsky Pass, Altai Republic. Animals still graze in the pastures even after the first snow falls. 

Tourists

Tourists walking in the Altai foothills. Altai remains one the most popular places for tourism in Russia. Some people go hiking there, others prefer rafting, fishing or just admiring the beauty of its nature.

Ferris

Ferris wheel near Chemal village, Altai Republic. 

Katun

Katun River, Altai republic. It begins near Belukha Mountain and flows through all of the Altai. Together with the Biya river, it forms the Ob River. Katun changes its color depending on season of the year. In autumn its water becomes turquoise. It looks beautiful. There are many rapids on the Katun and it is very attractive for water-rafting.

Fisherman

A lonesome fisherman on the banks of the Katun River, Altai Republic. The population of Altai Republic is approximately 210 thousand persons, so you really don't often meet many people while exploring the wonders of Altai. 

Hydro

Chemal hydroelectric station on the Chemal River, Altai Republic. The hydroelectric station was built in 1937 with the help of prisoners of a nearby boot camp. Chemal sanatorium and several houses used the energy produced by the station. The Chemal station doesn't work as a hydroelectric station any longer, however; now it is a museum. 

Hotel Room

There are many hotels, guest houses and sanatoriums in the Altai Republic, everyone can choose where to stay according to their taste. You can choose a modern hotel with aquapark, or you can settle down in a cosy traditional Russian wooden house with Russian furnace, visit a Russian banya and drink a cup of tea with Altai herbals and honey afterards. In the photo is a room in a hotel in Altai Republic.

Cows

Inhabitants of countryside in Altai republics mainly are engaged in farming: many of them grow vegetables and raise animals - sheep, pigs, cows and horses. Animals usually graze in the pastures under a shepherd's control, but very often you may see cows crossing the roads and they don't think about traffic regulations. 

Rivers

Confluence of the Chemal and Katun Rivers, Altai republic. 

Horse

A horse on the grassland near Seminsky Pass. Altai Republic. The height of the Seminsky Pass is 1717m. So the snow covers the ground here earlier, but horses and cows continue to graze even when there is some snow. 

Chuysky Trakt

The main road that leads to Altai is the Chuysky Trakt (Chuysky Path), which begins in Novosibirsk and goes through the regions of Novosibirsk and Altai to the border with Mongolia. Chuysky Trakt is considered to be one of the most beautiful roads not only in Russia but in the world. The road appeared some centuries ago, warriors and traders used it.

Apiary

Apiary in the village of Kamlak, Altai Republic. Altai honey is the most famous Altai brand. Many tourists who travel across Altai buy honey and bring it home as a sweet and tasty souvenir. Locals sell honey here everywhere, but don't hurry to buy it in a first village that you visit. There are several kinds of Altai honey. They differ because of the conditions where bees gather honey. There is taiga honey, highland honey, meadow honey and field honey. Different types of honey differ in taste, color, smell and consistence. Beekeepers also make the traditional Russian drink medovukha from honey. It is an alcoholic beverage that is made with honey and Altai herbs. A new brand is cream honey - honey with berries and fruits whipped in a special manner. 

Patmos

There are lots of interesting places in Altai Republic and one of them is Patmos Island on the Katun River. It is a small rock in the centre of the river, not far from Chemal village. The only way to get to Patmos is over a pendant bridge. It received its name after a small Greek island Patmos. In the 19th century a small church was built there and it was destroyed in the 1920s. In the 2000s a new church was built there once again and now it belongs to the Russian Orthodox Church. Still it is interesting to visit Patmos no matter to what confession you belong to. Lots of people come to see Patmos, and sometimes you have to wait in a queue before you may enter the bridge, which can only have six persons walking over it at the same time.

February

Southern February.

Fountain

Not just kids, but sometimes adults ride their bikes through this fountain.

Anniversary

Local volunteers to the Olympics return on Feb 7 for an anniversary reunion.

Anniversasry

Some of locals were volunteers during the Winter Olympics, and they gather in Olympic Park on the 7th of February, the anniversary of the games' opening.

Sunset

Both tourists and locals love sea sunsets.

Christmas

Subtropical Ded Moroz and Snegurochka.

Mountains

You can see mountains from the city center.

Seaport

Fishermen near the Sochi seaport.

Bike

Mainly it's children who ride their bikes through this fountain, but grown ups also do it on occasion. 

Flame

Olympic Park is now a popular tourist site.

Fisherman

You can see fishermen not only on the seaside, but also near and in the Sochi river.

Gorki Gorod

Krasnaya Polyana is famous for its wonderful mountains but also there are lots of places for entertainment, such as this aqua park in Gorki Gorod.

Grocery

A small grocery shop in a Sochi suburb

Gelendzhik

Gelendzhik is a town in Krasnodar region, 250 km from Sochi. 

Life in coastal cities is concentrated near the sea. This picture was taken during the International Exhibition and Scientific Conference on Hydroaviation.

Sunbather

Locals come to enjoy the sun and sea usually only in autumn and winter. The city has more than 300 sunny days per year.

Bus

Districts of Sochi are located on average about 40 km apart, so people spend lots of time in buses.

Palm

Palm trees and cypress are everywhere in Sochi.

Hiking

Hiking is one of the best ways to spend time in Krasnaya Polyana, and swimming in a mountain lake is especially pleasant after a tough day.

Apples

Interior of the living room in a rural house in the village of Borki, Kursk region, Russia, August 2015.

Pillows

Interior of a bedroom room in a rural house in the village of Borki, Kursk region, Russia, 14.07.2014. 

Fridge

Interior of the living room in a rural house in the village of Borki, Kursk region, Russia, August 2015.

Curtains

Interior of the living room in a rural house in the village of Borki, Kursk region, Russia, August 2015.

Darkness

Interior of a bedroom room in a rural house in the village of Borki, Kursk region, Russia, 14.07.2014.

Corner

Interior of the living room in a rural house in the village of Borki, Kursk region, Russia, August 2013. 

Snack

Summer kitchen, village of Borki, Kursk region, Russia, 06.07.2013.

Shelf

Summer kitchen, village of Borki, Kursk region, Russia, 06.07.2013. 

Oil

Summer kitchen, village of Borki, Kursk region, Russia, 08.07.2013.

Photo Wall

Interior of the living room in a rural house in the village of Borki, Kursk region, Russia.

Television

Interior of the living room in a rural house in the village of Borki, Kursk region, Russia, August 2014. 

Red

Interior of a bedroom room in a rural house in the village of Borki, Kursk region, Russia, 14.07.2014.

Bed

Interior of a bedroom room in a rural house in the village of Borki, Kursk region, Russia, 14.07.2014.

Light

Interior of a bedroom room in a rural house in the village of Borki, Kursk region, Russia, 14.07.2014. 

Blue

Interior of the living room in a rural house in the village of Borki, Kursk region, Russia, August 2015.

Wall

Interior of the living room in a rural house in the village of Borki, Kursk region, Russia, 14.08.2015.

Kitchen 2

Summer kitchen, village of Borki, Kursk region, Russia, 06.07.2013.

Radio

Interior of the living room in a rural house in the village of Borki, Kursk region, Russia, 06.07.2013.

Divan

Interior of the living room in a rural house in the village of Borki, Kursk region, Russia, August 2015.

Kitchen

Summer kitchen, village of Borki, Kursk region, Russia, 06.07.2013. Summer kitchens often exist as separate buildings adjacent to village homes.

Table

Interior of the living room in a rural house in the village of Borki, Kursk region, Russia, 06.07.2013.

Shelf

Summer kitchen, village of Borki, Kursk region, Russia, 06.07.2013.

Food market

Street market

Windows

Warehouses

Sunbeam

A rehearsal of "Kÿn Susy" ("Sunbeam”) dance ensemble, under the direction of choreographer Natalia Apunevich. This ensemble was created in Abakan in 2007. It is so popular that even in small areas of Khakassia it gives 2-3 performances per day. It has also performed abroad including most recently at the Venice Carnival in February 2016.

Abakan

Abakan is the capital of Khakassia. 170 thousand people live there. Abakan railway station was first opened in 1925, when the “Achinsk-Minusinsk” railway was being built. Between the railway station and the Ust-Abakansk settlement, a housing complex was built, on April 30, 1932, that complex was officially transformed into Abakan city. 

Constellation

A rehearsal of the "Ülger" (Constellation) song and dance ensemble, founded in 1989. When asked why the ensemble is much more likely to work abroad than in Russia, its leader, Kuchen Aycharkh Sayn, jokes: “Perhaps in our country we all are tired of each other." Photo: Altyn Tan Tayas Tag Kharga (member of the ensemble) plays the Topcu-homyse – a two-stringed Khakass musical instrument.

Dam

Sayano-Shushenskaya Hydroelectric Station on the Yenisey River is the largest hydroelectric power plant in Russia. Its dam is the highest in the country (242 meters). 

Born in Siberia

Born in Khakassia. Timir (in the photo) and his wife Maria were born and raised in Khakassia. They live in Abakan now. Besides working in an office and raising two little children Timir and Maria have developed their own brand of clothes and accessories called "Born in Siberia" (@born.in.siberia).

Petroglyph

There are a lot of ancient petroglyphs in Khakassia. These images were made by the prehistoric people thousands of years ago. 

Road

On the road from Abakan to Sayanogorsk you can see the panorama of snow-capped peaks of the Western Sayan Mountains.

Chests

The Chests Mountains. This row of five peaks owes its name to the peak, the shape of which resembles a large stone cube - the chest. The Khakas name of this mountain is Hyzyl Haya (Red Cliff). The complex has several observation platforms, two versions of a "sundial," a calendar, a biography of the great warrior reflecting the mythology of the ancient inhabitants of the territory of Khakassia. The mountain range is a complex of archaeological sites that includes burial mounds, rock carvings and special facilities, which together are an astronomical observatory of the ancient people who lived here.

Cows

Sometimes Khakas landscape reminds one of Switzerland: mountains, meadows and grazing cows.

Fisherman

A fisherman on the shore of a small pond at the entrance to the Shira urban settlement. Shira region in Khakassia is famous for its many lakes, the banks of which host a number of resort areas with sanatoria and tourist complexes. Shira's location is very conveniently located if one wants to visit Khakass points of power and points of interest.

Collapse

After working for more than 30 years as the main architect in the Shira area of Khakassia, Lyubov Ilinichna is now retired. But she cannot be idle. Ilinichna stared doing business, mastered accounting, ran a sawmill, and opened shops... It was interesting, but she tired of this as well. One day an acquaintance from the local government invited her to become a guide and drive sightseers around the Shira region. For 20 years now she has been leading a fascinating tour of the surrounding mountains, caves, lakes and other local attractions. Photo: behind Lyubov Ilinichna you can see Tiumsky Collapse - a huge pit of technogenic origin on the site of an underground mine closed in 1954.

Flower Laden

On the streets of Abakan. 

Menhirs

When traveling to Khakasia, pay attention to the numerous standing stones - menhirs. They are scattered across the prairies, large and small, inclined and straight, dug around a mound of earth fence, or arranged in rows, circles, or all alone in the desert. Most often, menhirs are arranged around the perimeter or in the corners of small mounds hiding an ancient burial, which relates to periods of Tagar (VIII - III century BC) or Okunevskaya (II thousand years BC) cultures.

Memorial

A memorial complex in memory of the fallen was recently opened on Samohval Mountain near Abakan. From here there is an excellent panoramic view of the city and the river Abakan flowing into the Yenisey.

Kichege

According to ancient tradition, Khakass men wear long hair in a tight braid called kiӌege (Kichege). It symbolizes their strong connection with the sky, the Tengri world of spirits.

Kunja

The road on the slopes of the ancient mountain Kÿn Tag, or Kunja, which in Khakassian means "Mountain of the Sun."

Igor

A shepherd named Igor, but nicknamed Khakas, shows me pikulki (Siberian irises) flowers growing in the prairies and meadows of Khakassia. Igor is 46 and an ethnic Khakass. Since childhood everyone has called him Khakas. He considered it an insult until he was 14, when he learned it was the name of his nationality. The flock he oversees belongs to a Chinese guy who has been living in Khakassia since the 1980s. Everyone calls him Kolya. 

School

Students of School №11 in Abakan, dressed in Russian national costumes. In one of the underpasses on Pushkin Street, they record a mini-video for their school graduation celebration.

Horses

Galloping and glazing horses in the Khakass open spaces. You can watch at this forever. The horse is one of the most common animals in Khakass open spaces. Breeding of horses, cattle and sheep has always been a traditional occupation among the Khakass people. 

Hogwarts

School No. 5. This is a castle built by businessman Sergey Mamaev for his wife Tatiana Mamayeva, she is the director of the school. Yoshkar-Ola is Mari for "red city." The castle was built of gray limestone. Over time, it will darken and will look like a real Hogwarts.
Photo by @sky_system

Tower

I traveled to Yoshkar Ola (Tsarevokokshaisk) to create a guide for foreign tourists. The capital of Mari El is very extensive and beautiful.
Photo by @sky_system

Memorial

Volunteer Aleksey Zagainov at the Memorial Museum of the History of the Gulag in Yoshkar-Ola. The local museum is unique for being located in the same building where prisoners where held, interrogated and tortured.

Photo by @sky_system

Reflection

The Republican Puppet Theatre - founded in 1942. The theater puts on performances in Russian and Mari languages. Its new building evokes the magic of Sleeping Beauty's Castle at Disneyland Paris, which, in turn, is stylized after Bavaria's Neuschwanstein castle.

Photo by @sky_system

Street

Street names around the city are written in Russian and in Mari. You can hear people talking Mari in museums, shops and cafés. In the republic both languages have official status.

Photo by @sky_system

Beach

In the evening, on the central beach. In spring the central beach is flooded. The weather is getting warmer the ice is melting, and the water level in the the Small Kokshaga River has risen.

Photo by @sky_system

Tver Horse

Rainy Day

Forest Bride

Cleaning

Man in a Case

Yard

Shopping

Rowing

Workout

Strolling

Stadium

River 

Flip

Volga River

The odor of lighter fluid and shashlik fills the air as does loud music. One could start to feel dizzy. This is how holidays are here. Photo by @misha_solunin from Nizhny Novgorod

May Days

May 9 in Minin square. Photo by @misha_solunin from Nizhny Novgorod

Lake

Long ago, Mescherskoe Lake, the largest lae in Nizhny Novgorod, was part of the Volga River. Now it's a favorite places for leisure, for romantic dates, and where people sing and play guitar all night long. It would be a totally wonderful place if were not for the litter on the lake shore. Photo by @misha_solunin from Nizhny Novgorod

Kremlin

The main tourist attraction in Nizhny Novgorod and its architectural landmark is the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin. This is the most ancient part of the city, first mentioned in the Chronicles in 1221, although most construction took place from 1508 to 1515. Like all kremlins in Russia, it was a fortress. Today is houses museums and buildings of the regional and municipal government. The best way to view Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin is to go on a river cruise. Photo by @misha_solunin from Nizhny Novgorod

Lenin

There are at least 6000 Lenin monuments in Russia, and at least 49 city squares and 5167 streets named after him. The full length of Lenin Streets is approximately 8631 kilometers. This is equal to the distance between Nizhny Novgorod and South Korea. In Nizhny Novgorod there is one square, 17 memorials and one avenue named for Vladimir Ilyich. Photo by @misha_solunin from Nizhny Novgorod

Rest

Preparations are in full swing for Victory Day. Between rehearsals, parade participants take e a rest in the shadow of the Nizhny Novgorod kremlin walls. Photo by @misha_solunin from Nizhny Novgorod

Formerly Gorky

The famous Russian writer Maxim Gorky was born in Nizhny Novgorod. The city was renamed after him in 1932. In 1990, however, the name Nizhny Novgorod was returned to the city. Photo by @misha_solunin from Nizhny Novgorod

Defense

A school student defends his team's goal during a game of floorball. Photo by @misha_solunin from Nizhny Novgorod

Cup Dreams

In 2018 Nizhny Novgorod will be one of the Russian cities hosting the FIFA World Cup. I hope that our city will see many guests from all over the world. Photo by @misha_solunin from Nizhny Novgorod

People

I've been living in Nizhny Novgorod for ten years, but still can't understand what sort of people the locals are. Are they kind or evil, moody or joyful, ready to help a stranger or not? Nevertheless, I want to believe that more  of them are kind and sincere. Photo by @misha_solunin from Nizhny Novgorod

Olympian

This guy's name is Sergey Gavrikov. He is 17, and has been blind for 10. He is a member of the Russian national football team for blind people and this year he will participate the Paralympic Games in Rio. He's an incredibly talented and cheerful guy. I'm proud to be acquainted with him. Photo by @misha_solunin from Nizhny Novgorod

Tryokhsvyatskaya

Tver has its own “Arbat” – it’s the walking street “Trekhsvyatskaya” that crosses the no less beautiful boulevard “Radischeva”. Some time ago a tram ran from Lenin Square to the railway station. It was exciting to ride without a ticket from one end to the other, running from the conductor and leaping out at the stops. Then the rails were dismantled, and the streets filled with shops and pedestrians.

Photo by @mnogolala from Tver

Tree

”Never give up!" My favorite tree. It grows between the garage and the fence.

Photo by @mnogolala from Tver

Krug

Tver is the hometown of the most famous chanson singer, Mikhail Krug. He devoted many songs to Tver and always performed happily at the concerts on Tver's "City Day". Once, during such a concert that was presented between two main bridges on a platform, he had begun to sing the song "My Dear City Familiar to Tears" and something happened to the sound equipment. The people standing on the embankments between the two bridges – about 20-30 thousand people - began singing the song with him. The show was unforgettable. Here he is much loved even among those who are not admirers of chanson.

Photo by @mnogolala from Tver

Beach

The beach on the Tmaka river, the river where I learned to swim. Twice, I almost drowned there and once fell through the ice. I remember my mother's words: "If you try drowning again, I'll kill you". It has a nice sandy beach, and in the summertime, there are some places where you can cross the river on foot.

Photo by @mnogolala from Tver

Oscar

Tver has own "Oscar," he stands in front of the cinema "Star." This year local social networkers joked that they would send their Oscar to Leonardo DiCaprio, if he did not win for his role in "The Revenant"

Photo by @mnogolala from Tver

Town Sign

Tver is located at the confluence of three rivers: Volga Tmaka and Tvertsa. The Tver sign meets and greets everybody at the pier, where large cruise ships moor up. 

Photo by @mnogolala from Tver

Stuffed

On the way from Moscow to Tver one can find a taxidermist and buy a hedgehog, fox or elk. 

Photo by @mnogolala from Tver

Babushki

Women talking on the bench against the backdrop of a Chinese style gazebo.

Photo by @mnogolala from Tver

Courtyard

This is a courtyard of my childhood. There is nothing special in it, the usual courtyard. I was surprised to find a familiar bench, where at the age of 12, I chatted with a boy from my class after he carried my bag. And a couple of teenagers who are just having a nice conversation with each other, enthusiastically looking at a smartphone. Already on a new bench of the new generation.

Photo by @mnogolala from Tver

Goat

This family has a lot of livestock; this is just one of their goats. They also have a donkey. @lyubeznikov @alexandra_ivanova

Father Frost's Mail

This is the mailbox of Ded Moroz. Ded Moroz is Russia's Santa Claus. Many childrens write letters to Ded Moroz. @lyubeznikov @alexandra_ivanova

Baptism

Church of Simeon Stylites. Baptisms take place every Saturday, but I was lucky to shoot this on a Sunday, because non-locals had asked to be baptized. Baptism takes place in a small, heated room with a baptismal font. @lyubeznikov @alexandra_ivanova

Music school

A young student during a lesson. @lyubeznikov @alexandra_ivanova

Skiing

Children skiing in front of the Church of Nikola Gostunsky, in the center of the town. @lyubeznikov @alexandra_ivanova

Snowman

Snowman melts in the courtyard of a house on Sovetsky Prospect, the town's main street. @lyubeznikov @alexandra_ivanova

Simeon Stylites

The Church of Simeon Stylites is an Orthodox Church that is not very popular among tourists, because it is not in the center of the town (a 30 minute walk from the central square). Only the first level of the church is restored and open to visitors. It is one of the few functioning churches in Velikiy Ustyug. @lyubeznikov @alexandra_ivanova

Reindeer

When you talking about Chukotka you can’t ignore indigenous people and reindeer. Their traditional occupation is still alive today. The word Chukotka comes from “chauchu,” which means deer horns. Sled driving deer usually have their horns trimmed so that they don’t disturb each other while running.  

Smelt

Alexey ice-fishes for smelt in the Anadyr river estuary. This fish has always been popular here; there was even a local holiday – Smelt Fish Festival. Back when Abramovich managed this region, people won incredible prizes - apartments, snowmobiles - in fishing competitions, and there were concerts by famous artists from Moscow. After the "Abramovich period" this holiday was officially ended, yet it existed well before Abramovich, as a welcome for spring. 

Pylons

Here you can see a feature of northern Russian cities: the houses stand on pylons that are buried 4-6 meters. There is no other way: permafrost floats on the surface in summer, the house walls would cracked. You can also see a fox tail hanging from the window sill. Nothing special!

Snowbound

We used to see such homemade vehicles with tube wheels everywhere in the North. They had different names, depending on region: mandebas, dutik, karakurt. Due to bank loans, people can now afford snowmobiles and quad bikes, so this is something of a rarity now.

Snowmobile

Chukotka is a region with a completely undeveloped road network. Shipping cargo to most parts of the region happens only in winter, and the passenger transportation to faraway villages is only possible by helicopter.

Anadyr

This picture summarizes Anadyr for me. The capital of Chukotka is always colorful, the buildings and banners on the facades are painted in a way to bring diversity to an otherwise gloomy winter view. There is lots of snow on the streets: blizzards bring so much that the equipment can't clean the streets in time. In the capital, as you would expect, the quality of life is higher than in the rest of Chukotka, so the number of moms with strollers is great indeed. 

Soot

The layer of soot from Pevek heat and power station covers the surface deep in Chausy Bay. In the next few years there is a plan to close Pevek Heat and Power Station and build floating nuclear power plant. Pevek was the largest city in Chukotka, a strategic port on the Northern Sea Route. Today the city is deserted and the population decreased to 25% of its previous level. All of the many towns surrounding this city are abandoned. It is terrible to watch the devastation and to be aware of reality.

Winter road

It's not easy to deliver cargo to Cupol. First it comes by sea to the town of Pevek and then it goes 400 kilometers by a winter road to the point of destination. I wasn't going to write a lot about this winter road but couldn't help as it's really unique. In Russia, winter roads are usually made with the help of scrapers but this one is filled in with water. It is frozen layer by layer like asphalt. The road turns very smooth and easy to repair. The speed limit here is 50 kilometers per hour. 

Greenhouse

Victoria is from the Chukchi town of Bilibino and she works at the mine. This is a greenhouse where vegetables are grown with the use of hydroponic technology. This station has been the only one for a long time in Chukotka and Victoria works as an operator at it.

Cutting

Bair is a worker in economic and technical service. Most part of workers here are from Magadan because at first Kirnoss held mine called Juliette in Magadan region.

Fox

700 hundred workers are on duty in the mine at one time. For their living and leisure a comfortable camp has been built here using modular technology. As the mine is situated in the wild, nobody minds getting along with animals.

Gold Mine

Cupol is the biggest gold mine in Chukotka which is being tapped by Canadian corporation Kinross. In the picture you can see a treated quarry where mining is carried out by underground methods. Here in the field they have built a gold extraction plant, residential complex, fuel storage, diesel power station and airport. The gold extraction plant processes ore also from the mine Dvoinoy which is situated 100 kilometers to the north. 

Авто(рсвто)-биография

Писать большую, развернутую биографию еще рановато. Герберт Уэллс начал свою в 65 и накропал толстенный том - много больше и тяжелее того кирпича, что укладывал от скуки в стену своей усадьбы сэр Уинстон Черчилль.

Aleshkovsky's Fish Entree

The translator of Fish: A History of One Migration, Nina Shevchuk-Murray, interviews Peter Aleshkovsky about his novel.

Observers

Vendor

Red Square

Shopping Day

In spring 2015 I made a photoshoot about life in the Polar Circle. This week I'm going to show it to you. Salekhard is the administrative center of Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. The city lives at the expense of the region. The main trade of the indigenous people called the Nenets is reindeer-raising. Deer are not only their means of transportation but also food, clothes and livelihood. In this picture you can see reindeer sleds standing near administrative buildings in the center of Salekhard. Deer are waiting for their owners while they are busy shopping.

Reindeer Breeder Day

In the spring, the Day of Reindeer Breeder is celebrated widely on the Yamal Peninsula. All the reindeer breeders and their families gather together and sell frozen fish, clothes and venison.

Helmet

On the Day of Reindeer Breeder this family rented their tent to the organizer of the festival. Everyone could go inside and learn their mode of life and share dinner with them. Almost every family of reindeer breeders has a snowmobile. On this holiday, parents usually buy presents for their children, whether toys or something useful, for example a crash helmet. Children liked helmets even more than electronic piano.

Snowmobile

This reindeer breeder was the most handsome I had ever seen. But unfortunately, he didn't want to get acquainted with me though posed very impressively. During the holiday its participants boasted not only of their reindeer sleds, but also new snowmobiles. Reindeer breeders get their snowmobiles through a state reindeer support program. But life away from civilization often causes a problem with fuel, so reindeer are irreplaceable.

Cat and Goose

Once this man from the village of Shuryshkary picked up a wounded goose. Now it lives with five cats and three dogs. On the chair there is muksun, which is a favorite fish of northern people. Its catch is limited because of a decline in its population. They eat it uncooked or frozen. 

Nenets

Despite the fact that northern people are resistant to severe frosts, the Nenets children can still get running noses. This boy was sitting in a sledge and waiting for his parents to collect their unsold goods and get ready to go home. 

Two Guys

These drunken guys are skating over the frozen Ob after the Day of Reindeer Breeder in the village of Aksarka. In body of Northern people there is no gene responsible for alcohol resistance. That's why they are prone to alcoholism. Russian conquerers took advantage of it, treat them with alcohol and then exchange fur and deer for little money. Part of the Nenets have left a nomadic life and live in flats, allocated by the state. The problem of alcoholism is very here. Partly because of the people who want to take away the flats of the Nenets. 

Taxi Driver

This is my childhood friend Pasha. Now he is a father of two children. He worked as a carpenter for eight years but at last he got tired of wasting time with wood, so now he is employed as a driver in a firm. As well, in the evenings he serves as a taxi driver. By the way, many people in Tara use their cars to earn money by giving rides.

Hockey

The main sport in Omsk is ice hockey. The former governor of Omsk, region who held office for twenty years, was a devoted fan of Hockey Club Avangard Omsk Region. The team won the Russian Superleague in 2004. Many hockey players who were raised in Omsk play all over the world now. And youngsters play right in the streets, despite the frost.

Water Run

The second biggest city in Omsk region is Tara. It is situated about 300 km north of the regional center. It has just 25 thousand citizens. This is where I come from... I am in love with old wooden houses, the simplicity of local people and the remoteness of the noisy megalopolis. Though, all the creature comforts are also far away. For example, citizens of Tara still take water from a standpipe.

Sunlight

In Omsk there are many steam-heat and fabric pipes. The city is big and it needs proper heating. The most powerful ones belong to the Oil Plant. A long time ago, the son of famous Russian poet Lev Gumilyov took part in building this plant while serving his exile here. He was born in St. Petersburg. By coincidence, the bulk of the plant's taxes go to the Northern capital of Russia, because the Oil plant is a subsidiary of Gazprom Neft. Money flows away from Omsk while it suffers from the plant's pollution. That's why all the citizens think it's unfair.

Tractor

Settlements close to the regional center are often deserted, as the youth leave them and old people live out their lives. Across the Irtysh, the taiga begins. The settlements here are more stable, because Omsk and its temptations is far away.

Tire Swing

There are a lot of things for kids to do in winter. Icy roads serve as skating-rinks in most courtyards, severe frost extends vacations, and the snowdrifts are so big that you can jump from a garage roof into them (until their owners notice and kick you out).

Ice Floes

Tree

Students

Omsk is a city of students. There are lots of educational institutions and young people around. Some of them are going into the army. In the photo you see assembly point of Omsk region.

Kiss

There is a lot of talk about crisis and inflation in Russia today, but still shopping malls are full of people. The most popular one in Omsk is Mega. On weekends all the roads in its direction are usually paralyzed with traffic jams. People head there not only for shopping but just to spend their free time. Some of them go on dates there, others stroll  around, dreaming about future purchases or come inside just to warm up. 

Snow

The Mother Protector (Мать-Покровительница) Monument, by the sculptor Vladimir Nagornov. The height of the monument exceeds all monuments previously installed in Chuvashia. It's 46 meters including its plinth. At the bottom of the pedestal there is a plaque that reads, “Blessed are my children, living in peace and love” (Благословенны дети мои, живущие в мире и любви). The Orthodox Church criticized the monument because they said it resembles a pagan idol.

Red Lights

Bolshoi View

Moscow River

River Shot

Boats at Rest

Sled Ride

Intrepid Bikers

Luxury and Lights

Angels

Reenactors

Moscow City

Metro

Umbrella

Pikalevo

From a distance it seems like they are all alike - smokestacks, workers' quarters... what else? But actually each monotown has its own history, its vital rhythms, amazing destinies of very different people. 

Shoemaker

A shoemaker in his shop in Syasstroy.

Boat

Water is everywhere in Syasstroy. Rivers Syas and Valgomka flow here. Lake Ladoga and Old Ladoga channel are quite near this town as well. There was a trade route down by the river before, locals lived by fishing and Tsar Peter The Great built ships here. In Soviet times, the Syassky Pulp and Paper Mill was constructed here. But even now many locals have their own boats. The fishing is great here.

Pipes

Alumina, aluminum hydrate and limestone are the main products of the BaselCement-Pikalevo Plant. Thus, the workshop area is very dusty. Dusty outside: trees around the factory are always of a fabulous gray-white color. Dusty inside: it's not recommended for a photographer to change his lenses while in the production area, if one doesn't want to ruin the camera's sensor with dust. On the other hand, the head of the town administration is proud that unemployment rate in Pikalevo was less than one percent in 2015. 

Sunset

Syasstroy. Sunset.

Cross Perch

Boys sitting on a cross. It was installed in Pikalevo in 2014 at the entrance to the city. Now the congregation of Krestovozdvizhenskaya Church (the Church of Holy Cross) is collecting money to build another church in their town, near this worship cross. Those making a donation of more than 500 rubles will receive a certificate for a "name brick" – a brick used to build the church will bear the donor's name.

Tower

Chechens are a bit schizophrenic. On the one hand we are patriots of our republic and country and like to demonstrate our love openly. On the other hand, we are fond of foreign stuff that emphasizes our status and lets us glam things up. We have a particular weakness for everything French. That's why there are two miniatures of The Eiffel Tower in the city.

Cape of Love

The Cape of Love is a popular place among lovers and newlyweds. From time to time city authorities pay to have it repainted, but the number of lovers doesn't decrease. 

Tree

The oldest oak tree in Chuvashia is 362 years old. It has the status of a natural monument and is situated in Ilinskoe forestry of Morgaushsky district.

Rocket

A Soviet era playground. One of the most famous representatives of the Chuvash people is Adrian Nikolaev, born in the village of Shorshely, who was the third man in space. This may be why there are many rockets in local playgrounds. There is also a park named after Nikolaev and a Space Museum in Shorshely.

Bridge

A pedestrian bridge across the bay in the mouth of the Cheboksarka river is a popular place among citizens for walking.

Sweepers

The public service company Sursad keeps Grozny streets clean. It started working immediately after the first days of recovery after the Chechen War. Local drivers were so taken aback when they saw street cleaners for the first time, that they unintentionally hit them with their cars. So Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov established a one million ruble compensation to street cleaners who were hit by drives. Since that time, employees of Sursad, who are mostly women, have been called Million Dollar Babies.

Mosque

The Grozny-City Towers and The Heart of Chechnya Mosque were the first postwar projects in the republic. Their construction was funded by investors and carried out by Turkish construction companies. The highest tower in the complex was damaged by fire. It was reconstructed and got a new name: Phoenix. All the concerts, big holidays, fairs and meetings in Grozny are held on this square.

Merchant

Ramson season is in full swing. This wild garlic is collected in mountain regions in January, right after snow starts to melt. In Chechnya it's not just a snack, but a full course. It's sold by weight. After peduncles are cut, ramson is washed and stewed in milk or tomato sauce.

Grampa

A grampa and his grandchild enjoy a warm January day.

Look Up

Two men in traditional dress admire their image in an overhead mirror.

Dancer

Magomed and his friends have been breakdancing for several years. He doesn't oppose modern styles to lezginka (traditional Caucasian dance), he just says that these are two different worlds. The guys perform at all kinds of parties and even weddings. They are going to start their own dance school.

Night

Local authorities are trying their best to develop tourism, but tourists prefer to visit Grozny only on weekends. Tour operators complain that, because of the crisis, no more than nine groups come to the city in a day. The main item on tourists' to-do-list is buying souvenirs. The most popular ones are traditional Chechen fleece caps. Even if people don't buy them, the will make pictures in them for sure.

Bus

People riding a trolleybus in Maykop (capital of Adygeya) that was decorated for New Year's. 

Beer factory

This old factory was built in the early twentieth century. The oldest part of building is a protected federal architectural monument. The building is located in the centre of town, near the park.

Center

Maykop's historic center is mainly filled with low-rise buildings built in the nineteenth century. 

Mosque

The only mosque in Maykop, which was opened in November, 2000. There are 44 mosques in the Republic of Adygea.

Waterfalls

One of the most beautiful excursions in Adygea is the waterfalls on the River Rufabgo. In winter the waterfalls freeze, forming enormous icicles. 

Trails

Trails to the Rufabgo waterfalls are covered with snow but passable.

Five Falls

There are sixteen waterfalls on the river, but only five can be approached on foot. This is the first waterfall, and it is a favorite place for photographers.

Eiffel

The local man followed his dream and built "The Eiffel Tower" near Maykop.

Icicles

The icicles here sometimes reach five meters. 

Belaya River

The Belaya River is the main river in Adygea. It was named "Shhaguashhe" in the past, which in the Adyghe language means "Mistress of the Mountains."

Hill

The first mention of the town in the annals refers to 1146. We can see it is just one year older than Moscow. Its name comes from the name of a small river Mtsna. At its confluence with the deep river Zusha was the town castle.

Hotel

The only hotel in town. Sometime, there was next to another hotel, a bigger size. But about three years ago in this building made a furniture store.

Sunset

And a Ferris Wheel

Afisha

Looking for things to do.

River

Ice Fishing. Church.

Auto Station

Mtsensk Style

Epiphany

People say that real Siberian is not one who never gets cold, but one who dresses properly. Epiphany is an an exception. Here in Irkutsk even frosts of 30 degrees below zero cannot prevent people from jumping in the icy waters!

Grandma

I was asked to share a picture of my cheerful grandmother. We did some shopping to choose gifts for our family and had a bit of fun. Smile with us!

Angara

The main promenade zone is the Angara River embankment. Romantic students, exalted tourists, and families all stroll here no matter the weather. You can meet acquaintances, artists, and musicians here, or perhaps a horse or a deer. It is the only street in the city where snow is properly removed.

Water

Water is the special pride of Irkutsk citizens. You can drink sweet water right from the lake Baikal, in Irkutsk tasty water runs from the tap. Villagers are a bit less lucky. Denis and Mikhail (pictured) live in the village of Vvedentshina. They drink and take water for cooking from the River Irkut. In their opinion, it is the most fresh and tasty water available.

Bear Paws

There is a myth that every Siberian has a tamed bear at home. It is not so. But there is a good chance of meeting a bear in northern villages. How these stories end can differ. We do not eat bear meat. Almost all bear meat is infected with trichinellosis.

Icebreaker

The icebreaker Angara is more than a century old, and thus is the oldest existing icebreaker in the world. She has lived through two world wars and a civil war, experienced several major accidents and restorations. Now she is a museum and sees only good things: in winter a skating rink is set up alongside the icebreaker, and Irkustskians like to spend their leisure time there.

Emergency

Denis and Lera play Emergencies Ministry in school. There is a grain of truth in very joke: this summer and autumn there were widespread peat-bog fires in Irkutsk region and around Baikal forest. People worked together to combat the fires. No games.

Winter

This year a true winter with deep frosts came to Irkutsk. For several years winter has not been like this. Locals usually snarl against the weather: in summer they miss the snow, in winter - grass. But we live in a sunny region, full of light, snow and frost.

Kivach

Kivach nature reserve was the first protected area in Karelia and also one of the oldest in Russia. It was founded in 1931 and named for the waterfall of the same name. It is located 80 km to the north of Petrozavodsk. The main attraction of the reserve is Kivach waterfall on the Suna River. Water falls in four levels. The total height of the waterfall from the top to the bottom of the river is 10.7 m. For a long time Kivach was considered to be the largest planar waterfall in Russia and the second largest plain waterfall in Europe after the Rhine waterfall in Switzerland. Currently the waterfall has lost its due to the dam built upstream. Nevertheless Kivach is the most accessible and famous of Karelian waterfalls. 

Canoe

Who said that canoeing is only a summer activity? In Karelia, the tourist sphere is active year-round. Today Dmitry and Pavel, who are instructors in Karjala Park, have decided to raft a bit. They couldn't just miss such weather. "Cold frost and sunshine; day of wonder!" as Alexander Pushkin wrote.

Ermine

An ermine spotted in the center of Petrozavodsk. I shot this cute guy 300 meters from Kirov Square, where the main Christmas tree in Petrozavodsk is installed. First I saw running mouse and a minute later this handsome animal. This is not the first time I have taken a picture of wildlife in the city. 

Christmas

On January 7, Orthodox Russians celebrate one of the major holidays of the year - Christmas. In the photo: St. Catherine the Great Church in Petrozavodsk on Christmas day.

Skating

It's cold in Karelia now. This morning it was nearly minus 30 C in Petrozavodsk. Not extremely much for northern region. But nevertheless most citizens prefer to stay at home even on the weekend. There were only three people at the skating rink in the city center this morning.

Walkers

Cold weather doesn't frighten hunters, fishermen and... Nordic walkers of all age. This kind of sport has become increasingly popular in Petrozavodsk. Nordic walkers like to stride along the embankment and in the forest on the outskirts of the city whatever the weather.

Ducks

Dozens of ducks wintering in Petrozavodsk. They live in small city rivers where open holes in the ice remain unfrozen even in strong frosts. Birds have tough times now. But citizens try to help by feeding them every day.

Dvor Art

Petrozavodsk - a courtyard on Pravda street. Car tires, stones, washbowls, barrels, old bicycle. Andrey Petrovich who lives here make these art objects from different old unnecessary stuff.

Fishing

There are more than 60 thousand lakes in Karelia. As many as fishermen, I guess. This winter all fishing fans were waiting for ice to set. Finally we got it. Although today was 24 degrees Celsius below zero we went fishing. We were on the ice of one of the bays of Lake Onega from early morning. The man with ice on his mustache in the picture is Dmitry, a manager in the adventure tourism company, 36 years old. Dima moved to Petrozavodsk after 13 years of living in Moscow. Last year we took him to the ice for first time. This year he has got special sledge, fishing box and other fishing stuff. He also managed to interest his sons in ice fishing. Today not much was biting, but each of us caught some fish. As we say: we go fishing but not for fish. 

Storm

Petrozavodsk is a northern city. Cold winters used to be typical. But in recent years real winter comes only in the middle of December. Yesterday and today there was a strong snowstorm. The temperature lowed to 15 degrees Celsius below zero and strong wind was blowing all day long. The monument to Peter the Great, the founder of the city, is barely visible in this shot.

Night

Blagoveshchensk was founded in 1856. It is the administrative center of Amur region and the fifth largest city in the Far East and has a population of 225,00. The city sits at the confluence of the Amur and Zeya Rivers. This is Blagoveshchensk in the morning, with the city thermal power station.

Road

You can get to Amur region by plane, train or automobile. Travelling by car will give the strongest impression, because you will see how the terrain changes from plains to mountains, and be impressed by striking landscapes. Today, the region is crossed by two federal highways. The M65 Lena connects the settlement of Bolshoy Never and Yakutsk, and the M58 Amur connects Chita and Khabarovsk.This is part of the Lena federal highway in Magdagachinsky district, Amur region.

Cossacks

Amur Region began to be explored by different people in the seventeenth century, but principally by Cossacks and runaways. In 1651 Yerofey Khabarov invaded the fortified settlement of the Daurian Prince Albazy. Today, this is on the territory of the city's northern Skovordinsky district. In 1665, Russian Cossacks settled here. A year later, their newly built fortress, Albazino, was surrounded by Manchu troops. The Cossacks didn't surrender. In the picture is a monument to the first Cossack settlers. 

Zeya

Zeya Dam is one of the oldest industrial objects in Amur region. In the beginning of December it was 40 years old. The station supplies almost half of the power used in the Far East and some neighboring regions of China. In the morning, a thick fog covers the dam because the water around it doesn't freeze. When it disperses, the trees are covered by hoar-frost.

Border

Blagoveshchensk is one of only two cities in Russia that has a river border with a foreign city (the other is Ivangorod/Narva). Heihe, China is just 800 meters away across the Amur. This is the embankment in Blagoveshchensk and Heihe illuminated in the distance.

Tynda

In the 1970s and 1980s, Tynda was referred to as the capital of the Baikal-Amur Mainline (BAM) and gained great fame. It was a starting point for construction brigades that left to laying railways all the way to Komsomolsk-on-Amur. Today, the city has lost its grandeur, as its population has declined from 60 to 30 thousand, but still it has its own charm. 

Blaga-Vegas

At first it was known as Blaga-Vegas and now it is called Tradeveshensk. Today, Blagoveshchensk leads the Far East in the number of shopping centers in the city. There are 38. 

Market

China, our closest neighbor, has a a great influence on the development strategy of the Amur region. Chinese-made goods are sold here and there and many pass through Amur region to the western regions of Russia. Every local settlement has its own Chinese market. Due to the instability of Russian ruble, many Chinese businessmen have left the region, but in Blagoveshchensk they keep working. 

Vostochny

The main object in Amur region and the Far East is The Vostochny Cosmodrome. In April 2016, a Soyuz-2 rocket will be launched from here. This is the launch pad of the Vostochny Cosmodrome. 

Tangerines

A New Year symbol for people who live along the Amur (and indeed throughout Russia), is fresh tangerines. For locals, here, however, it's a bit less exotic, since they are merely brought across the border from China.

Tayozhny

This is the Tayozhny district in the main town of The Baikal-Amur Mainline. A relocation project is underway, as people have been living in temporary housing for 40 years.

Old Town

The Old Town of Norilsk. Norilsk is one of the biggest metallurgy centers in the world and it is also among the eight most polluted cities in the world.

Child

Polar night is the period when the sun doesn't rise above the horizon. In Norilsk it lasts 45 days from the end of November till the middle of January. Lack of sunlight influences human body greatly and causes tiredness, emotional stress, insomnia and even depression. 

Playground

A lot of playgrounds in Kodinsk are adorned with metal figures of fairy tale characters. I failed to found out their origin and authors. Kodinsk citizens jest that it must be the work of a crazy welder and that their children are not afraid of anything now.

Skiing

Winter sports are very popular in Kodinsk. On the outskirts of the town there is a big ski base with split-level tracks which go through a pine forest. The citizens often take part in local and regional contests.

Blizzard

In the city house numbers are written in three- or six-meter figures for better orientation especially in snowstorms when visibility is low. 

What Readers Say

March 01, 2013

Translator Update #4: A Grubby Job

Whenever I read about Constance Garnett, doyenne of Russian-to-English literary translation, sitting in the garden and banging out her work with scarcely a break for reflection (“She would finish a page,” D.H. Lawrence tells us, “and throw it off on a pile on the floor without looking up...”), I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.

• History Literature

From the Translator

July 13, 2015

The Tower of (Isaac) Babel

July 13 is the anniversary of Isaac Babel's birth. Now celebrated as one of teh great writers of the twentieth century, he had a very difficult time gaining acceptance during his lifetime, and repeatedly suffered from antisemitism, official and otherwise.

• History Literature

Sunset

Partridge (without pear tree)

Photographing Putorana

Snow falls on the camp, June 29

Vasily at work

Vasily Sarana and Ivan Kobilyakov

A hide subsumed by spring flooding

The banks of the Ayan River

Little Golden Calf: Reviews

November 26, 2013

Happy 158th Uncle Gilya!

The first-ever English version of Uncle Gilya’s masterpiece, Moscow and Muscovites, translated by Brendan Kiernan and published by Russian Life Books, debuts today. It’s our way of saying “Happy Birthday” to Uncle Gilya (today is his 158th!). English-language readers around the globe win as well – this translation is at least 90 years overdue!

• Culture Food & Drink History Humor Literature

About Those Sogdians

A few starting points for exploring and understanding the rich culture of Sogdia, homeland of the protagonist in The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas.

• History Regions

Glossary for the Novel

Confused about a term which appears in the novel? Here is a useful list of foreign terms compiled by translator Liv Bliss. 

September 10, 2013

Interview with the author

Text of an interview Pet Hawk author Dmitry Chen gave to Moscow News, upon the release of the book in Russian, in 2007.

• Literature Religion

The History Behind the Novel

To better appreciate The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas, it helps to know at least a snippet of history for the time when the novel takes place – a very significant turning point in history, the effects of which are felt to this day.

Reviews of the Russian Editions

• Products

A Playlist for The Pet Hawk

Mir Corporation

American tour operator MIR Corporation has been specializing in creative, culturally immersive small group and custom-made journeys to Russia and beyond since 1986. MIR offers you the best of both worlds: all the assurances of working with a 26 year old American based company staffed by experts with first-hand travel expertise; plus all the benefits of on-site quality control from the MIR affiliated field office located in Western Russia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. 

November 21, 2012

Translator Update #3: Making Sausage

If even gently pressed, I will readily admit to belonging to the Just Do It school of translation. I have never been big on translation theory, not least from fear of suffering the fate of the centipede who, on being asked how he managed to walk with so many legs, promptly fell over.

• Products

November 06, 2012

Translator Update #2: Tightrope Walking

If even gently pressed, I will readily admit to belonging to the Just Do It school of translation. I have never been big on translation theory, not least from fear of suffering the fate of the centipede who, on being asked how he managed to walk with so many legs, promptly fell over.

• Products

September 04, 2012

Translator Update #1: Getting to know Nanidat

The first of a series of updates from Liv Bliss, translator of the Silk Road Trilogy, as she updates readers on her progress on the translation of Dmitry Chen’s Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas.

• Products

Pies

Students

Winter

Wedding

Boy and Dog

Winter Palace

White Nights

Twins

Peter Paul Fortress

Babushkas

Nutcracker

Walking a Cat

Man Playing Accordion

Lomonosov

Lady in Snow

Jordan Staircase

St. Isaac's

Guard

Candles

Bridge

Babushkas

Middlebury College

Middlebury College offers intensive instruction at the undergraduate and graduate levels at the Russian School in Vermont (summers) and at the School in Russia in Moscow, Irkutsk, Voronezh, and Yaroslavl (September to June).

RNO

What better gift than the gift of music? And surely you want to go with the best? The Russian National Orchestra is Russia's (some say the world's) finest symphony orchestra. You can purchase the RNO's recordings on their site here, read reviews and even sample some of the music. Orders ship from the US, so service is quick.

• Gifts

Indiana University

Indiana University's Summer Workshop offers four and eight week programs in Russian (1st to 6th year). Also beginning Czech, Polish, Serbian/Croatian, Romanian, Hungarian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Estonian, Azeri, Kazak, Turkmen, Uzbek I and II. Pending funding: Georgian and 2nd yr. Polish.