July 15, 2022 Novels and Soviet Children A few books we’ve been reading lately, and that we felt we should review and share. Children History Literature
June 14, 2022 Sci-fi Author, Meet Dystopia A well-known science fiction author has been placed on the Kremlin's wanted list for protesting the war in Ukraine. Dissent Literature War Russia File
May 22, 2022 Ignorance is Not Strength Belarus moves to ban George Orwell's dystopian classic 1984. Government Literature Media Social Issues Russia File
March 27, 2022 Gogol: A Surrealist Author between Russia and Ukraine An ode to one of the wittiest authors of Russian literature. And one with a complex legacy. History Literature War Russia File
March 01, 2022 Reading about Putin and Poetry In which we review two books: one full of poetry, another full of Putin. Literature Politics Reviews
January 29, 2022 The Fiasco, by Anton Chekhov In honor of Chekhov's birthday, we present his story, "The Fiasco," translated by Bob Blaisdell. And a video version... Family Literature Men Women
January 29, 2022 Happy Birthday Anton Pavlovich Today, January 29, is Anton Pavlovich Chekhov's 162nd birthday. Let's celebrate! Biographies Literature TBT
January 01, 2022 The Gambler Wife An excerpt from the new book, The Gambler Wife, a glimpse into the life and motivations of Dostoyevsky's very successful wife. History Literature Women
January 01, 2022 Sinners, Saints and Pilgrims Revies of a book on one of the true-crime sources for Crime and Punishment, and a collection of Teffi's stories. History Literature
December 25, 2021 Fyodor in Florence Florence, Italy, is joining in on the Dostoyevsky anniversary fun. Art Biographies Culture Int'l Relations Literature Russians Abroad Russia File
December 14, 2021 Magic in St. Petersburg King's Cross station has nothing on the city of St. Petersburg, which is now complete with its own Platform 9 3/4, too. Literature Pop Culture St. Petersburg Transportation Russia File
November 28, 2021 Dostoyevsky's Brilliant Wife Anna In which we learn about the strong-willed and brilliant Anna Dostoyevskaya, the wife of Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Biographies History Literature Women
May 05, 2022 to October 02, 2022 Images of Atheism: The Soviet Assault on Religion Museum of Russian Icons | Clinton, MA Exploring the role of visual propaganda in the Communist Party’s seven-decade war against religion (ca. 1920– 1990). Art Exhibit
February 28, 2022 to February 23, 2032 Free Russian Language Guided Tours Metropolitan Museum of Art | New York, NY Russian-speaking guides conduct tours of the museum's highlights every Monday at 11 am. Art Exhibit
April 10, 2022 to October 23, 2022 Martin Roemers: Relics of the Cold War Wende Museum | Culver City, CA On view in the Wende’s West Gallery and garden, this exhibition presents work by Dutch photographer Martin Roemers from 1998 through 2009, when he captured the structural and topographic remnants of the Cold War in both the East and West over an eleven-year period. Art Exhibit
February 22, 2022 to February 22, 2032 Russian-Language Gallery Tour Brooklyn Museum | Brooklyn, NY Russian-language tour exploring our collection in depth, second Sunday of each month at 1 pm. Free, reservations required Art Exhibit
February 03, 2022 to October 02, 2022 Tea Is For Tradition Museum of Russian Icons | Clinton, MA The objects associated with Russian tea are tactile reminders of this important tradition and evoke warmth, home, and family. Art Exhibit
Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.
White Magic The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.
Resilience: Life Stories of Centenarians Born in the Year of Revolution Call it resilience, grit, or just perseverance – it takes a special sort of person to have survived the last 100 years of Russian and Soviet history.
At the Circus This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.
The Samovar Murders The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
Red Star Tales: A Century of Russian and Soviet Science Fiction For over 100 years, most of the science fiction produced by the world’s largest country has been beyond the reach of Western readers. This new collection changes that, bringing a large body of influential works into the English orbit.
Bears in the Caviar Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.
East of the Sun: The Epic Conquest and Tragic History of Siberia The very word Siberia evokes a history and reputation as awesome as it is enthralling. In this acclaimed book on Russia’s conquest of its eastern realms, Benson Bobrick offers a story that is both rich and subtle, broad and deep.
Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.
The Moscow Eccentric Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.
Survival Russian Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.
The Latchkey Murders Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...
March 14, 2020 Coronavirus Coping: Russian Lit has the Answers Russian literature has an answer for everything. In the times of coronovirus, this is your guide. Art Literature CVSG
April 06, 2020 A Russian Gift A look at how the Jesuits, Pope Francis, and Georgetown University all share an interesting connection to Russia. History Int'l Relations Religion
March 01, 2019 Crime and Punishment W.W. Norton has released a new translation, by Michael Katz, of Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s classic novel. We excerpt here the novel’s opening. Literature St. Petersburg
November 18, 2016 Famous Americans with Russian Roots America is a land built by immigrants. We researched famous Americans with Russian roots and offer this compilation. History Reference Russians Abroad
November 01, 2020 Tsarina: In the Winter Palace Catherine I finds herself at a turning point upon the death of her husband, Peter the Great. History Literature
September 01, 2019 Bite Marks Is Russia somehow different from other nations, or is it just like any other? History Int'l Relations
