January 01, 2019 On Translating Krylov By Lydia Razran Stone Our translator of Krylov's difficult fables shares how she approaches translation of this most colloquial of poets. Literature
January 01, 2019 The Wolf in the Kennel By Ivan Krylov Krylov on how one negotiates with wolves. Hint: one doesn't. "Of wolves I’ve learned a thing or two. With them there’s only one sure truce." Humor Literature
January 01, 2019 Man With a Box By Tamara Eidelman Pavel Bazhov, Russia's greatest modern fabulist, had a complicated and eventful life. Literature
January 01, 2019 The Freedom Factory By Ksenia Buksha The story of a real-life military factory told through monologues collected from anonymized workers, managers, and engineers. (novel excerpt) Cities & Towns Literature
January 01, 2019 Grampa Krylov By Lev Sobolev Russia’s best known poet was born 250 years ago, and his last name was not Pushkin. Biographies Literature
November 23, 2018 We Once Had a Poet Named Tyutchev By Anatoly Liberman Fyodor Tyutchev (whose 115th birthday is today) was endowed with genius and good luck: a great Russian poet, he was not killed in a duel or in the Caucasus. Nor did he rot in Siberia, but instead lived until he was 70 and died in his own bed. Culture Literature
November 09, 2018 Being Turgenev By Tamara Eidelman Everyone in Russia knows the great writer Ivan Turgenev, whose 200th birthday is today, and they make his acquaintance in three stages. History Literature
November 01, 2018 The Incomparable Uspensky By Yuliya Ballou The writer Eduard Uspensky passed away recently. In this language section, we look back at one of his contributions to Russian literature and folklore. Film & TV Language Literature
November 01, 2018 Taking Stock By Tamara Eidelman A look back at year end stock-taking, at changes that have been promised in years past, and promises that have been un-kept. History Literature
November 01, 2018 Anna and an Atlas By Robert Blaisdell and Paul E. Richardson In which we review The Anna Karenina Fix: Life Lessions from Russian Literature, by Viv Groskop, and Restless Empire, by Ian Barnes. History Literature
November 01, 2018 Looking for Tolstoy By Robert Blaisdell An American writer consumed by Anna Karenina goes in search of the great writer’s little-known refuge beyond the Volga, near Samara. History Literature Travel
October 04, 2018 Politics and Technology: And never the twain should meet By Irina Bukharin To selfie or not to selfie? That is the question, or at least one of the questions, addressed this week. Humor Literature News Politics The Weekly Russia File
October 15, 2021 to April 03, 2022 Icons for Our Time: Orthodox Art from Around the World Museum of Russian Icons | Clinton, MA Fifteen contemporary icons from fifteen countries explore iconography today. Presented in celebration of the museum's 15th Anniversary. Art Exhibit
The Spine of Russia This coffee table book is the photographic journal of an epic 6000-kilometer road trip. The book includes over 200 compelling images of Russians and Russian places met along the way, plus a dozen texts (in both English and Russian) on everything from business to education, from roads to fools.
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.
Murder and the Muse KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.
301 Things Everyone Should Know About Russia How do you begin to get a handle on the world's largest country? This colorful, illustrated guide will get you started...
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.
22 Russian Crosswords Test your knowledge of the Russian language, Russian history and society with these 22 challenging puzzles taken from the pages of Russian Life magazine. Most all the clues are in English, but you must fill in the answers in Russian. If you get stumped, of course all the puzzles have answers printed at the back of the book.
The Little Humpbacked Horse A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.
Driving Down Russia's Spine The story of the epic Spine of Russia trip, intertwining fascinating subject profiles with digressions into historical and cultural themes relevant to understanding modern Russia.
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.
Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography This astonishingly gripping autobiography by the founder of the Russian Women’s Death Battallion in World War I is an eye-opening documentary of life before, during and after the Bolshevik Revolution.
Woe From Wit (bilingual) One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.
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.
January 28, 2020 Meet Russia's favorite sable By Maria Antonova Siberian sable fur was once Russia's biggest luxury export, but now we can't get enough of Instagram star Umora, the sable inspiring Russians to never look at fur coats again. Animals Internet Interview
September 14, 2019 Eight Russian Desserts To Make Your Mouth Water By Tiffany Zhu Forget vodka – dessert is the best part of Russian meals. Culture Food & Drink
December 19, 2016 10 Things (And 5 Jokes) You Didn't Know About Brezhnev By Alice E.M. Underwood Soviet leader Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev would have been 110 on December 19. There are plenty of fun facts and surprising jokes behind the eyebrows. History Humor Politics
November 18, 2016 Famous Americans with Russian Roots By Letitia Rydjeski America is a land built by immigrants. We researched famous Americans with Russian roots and offer this compilation. History Reference Russians Abroad
January 10, 2014 Why Don't Russians Smile? By The Editors It is a common trope that Russians never smile. Which of course is interpreted to mean they are unfriendly, gloomy, sullen – positively Dostoyevskian. This, of course, is a complete misreading of body language and cultural norms. Culture Humor Language
January 01, 2022 The Gambler Wife By Andrew D. Kaufman 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
