Please join us for a hybrid literary symposium featuring 2022 Harriman Writer in Residence Maria Stepanova, organized by Mark Lipovetsky (Harriman Institute) and Irina Paperno (University of California-Berkeley), consisting of two panel discussions (in-person only) and a poetry reading (in person & online). In-person attendees should register using the "Reserve Your Seat" button at the bottom of the page. To attend the poetry reading virtually, use the links in the program below. For full list of speakers, visit the event page on our website.
Program
All times in EDT (New York)
Panel I: Uses and Misuses of Historical Memory in Post-Soviet Culture and Politics
11:00am–12:30pm
Excavation and reconstruction of traumatic historical memory have been at the center of cultural debates in post-Soviet space since the 1990s. This process has resulted in a number of powerful literary and cinematic works based on their authors’ deep engagement with tragic history of the Soviet period. At the same time, manipulations with historical memory have been widely used by the Putin regime for ultra-nationalist state rhetoric serving as the justifications for the invasion in Ukraine and other political crimes. We ask participants of the roundtable, poets and scholars, to reflect on this paradox and the ways to confront political instrumentalization of historical memory.
Panel II: Publishing East European Writers in the West
2:00–4:00 pm
This roundtable brings together professionals (editors, publishers, translators) involved in publishing and promoting literature from Eastern Europe. We ask them to reflect on selecting, contextualizing and representing contemporary Eastern European writers for Western readers. How do books—especially contemporary poetry—from Eastern Europe reach readers in Western Europe and America? What does it mean to publish authors from Ukraine, Russia and Belarus at the time of the war? How can we best represent powerful literary voices from Ukraine? Can literature help to fight hate?
Poetry Reading
5:30–7:30 pm
- Translations from Ukrainian poetry read by Polina Barskova (Poet; University of California, Berkeley) & Ostap Kin (Translator; Archivist/Librarian, Zimmerli Art Museum)
- Maria Stepanova, Poet, 2022 Harriman Writer in Residence, editor-in-chief and founder of Colta.ru
[Register for Zoom] [Watch on YouTube]
Ways to Attend
In-person (CUID Only): Register using "Reserve Your Seat" button below
Online: Live stream of Poetry Reading (5:30pm) [Register for Zoom] [Watch on YouTube]
