Trafika Europe 13 - Russian Ballet

Trafika Europe 13

As in the first generation American Modernism, Eastern poetic influence made its presence felt in Russia. So it is not at all a coincidence that Helga Olshvang Landauer ’s present selection from the as-yet unpublished book Parchments is, like the geographical position of Russia itself, straddling East and West. Among the foremost Russian poets of her generation, Helga is also a visual artist. As a graduate of the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography, she has written numerous screenplays for feature, animation, and documentary films, among them A FilmAbout Anna Akhmatova (2008) and Arcadia (with participation of one of the finest living Russian poets, Vladimir Gandelsman; 2015). The poet and essayist Maria Stepanova is a cultural force to be reckoned with, having founded and edited Russia’s most important literary online cultural review, OpenSpace.ru (2007-2012). When OpenSpace was bought and commercialized, and changed its focus, she founded and continues to edit its second incarnation, Colta.ru. In recent years, she has been a frequent visitor and guest lecturer at such Amerian universities as Harvard, Columbia, and Stanford.

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