The Tragedy of the Russian Poet with Robert Chandler, Markus Lähteenmäki and Clementine Cecil

A conversation exploring the lives, fates and work of the Russian poets. 

During the Soviet era, poetry became a dangerous, subversive activity; nevertheless, poets such as Osip Mandelstam and Anna Akhmatova continued to defy the censors. Robert Chandler is chief editor of The Penguin Book of Russian Poetry, an anthology that traces Russian poetry from its Golden Age to the modern era, including work by several lesser known but important poets, such as Georgy Ivanov and Varlam Shalamov who also feature in our pavilion on Bloomsbury Square, 101km: Further and Everywhere (18th October – 10 November).

This anthology was one of the main sources for the english language translations for the poetry included in the pavilion, many of them translated by Robert Chandler.

This conversation between Robert, Markus and Pushkin House Director Clementine Cecil will explore the lives, fates and work of the poets included in the pavilion, including Anna Akhmatova, Joseph Brodsky, Vladislav Khodasevich, Georgy Ivanov, Marina Tsvetaeva, Boris Pasternak, Osip Mandelstam, Natalya Gorbanevskaya and Varlam Shalamov.

On photo: Anna Akhmatova