American authors will talk about contemporary poetry in the framework of the project "Written in the USA / Written in America"

The third meeting with contemporary American writers as part of the COLTA project. RU and PEN America “Written in the USA” will be dedicated to contemporary poetry and poetic book publishing.

This time the project will introduce the Moscow audience to the founder of the New York publishing house Ugly Duckling Presse Matvey Yankelevich and the poet Monica De La Torre. Poetic readings and discussion about the processes taking place with poetry in Russia and America, and book publishing will take place on March 24 in the space of the bar gallery “Migratory tavern” and the bookstore “Word Order”.

The event will begin with poetry readings with Monica De La Torre and Matvey Yankelevich and will continue the discussion, which will also be attended by famous Russian poets Mikhail Aizenberg, Dmitry Kuzmin and Alexander Skidan. The meeting will discuss the processes taking place with independent poetry and poetic book publishing in the USA and Russia, as well as the features of the work of non-profit publishing houses on the example of Ugly Duckling Presse.

Matvey Yankelevich and Monica De La Torre live in Brooklyn, but were born in other countries - Russia (USSR) and Mexico, which largely determined their career. Both authors have not lost touch with their native language - their translation works familiarize the American audience with the poetry of Russia, Eastern Europe, Spain, Mexico and Latin America.

Matvey Yankelevich - poet, philologist, translator, poet, founder of the New York publishing house Ugly Duckling Presse, which specializes in non-profit literature and publishes poetry, translations and experimental non / fiction. He was born in Moscow, probably in the most famous family of dissidents (grandson of Elena Bonner and Andrei Sakharov), and in the 70s he emigrated with his parents to the United States. In the 90s, while still in college, Yankelevich created the Ugly Duckling magazine (ugly duckling), which marked the beginning of the eponymous independent publishing house, which has existed since 1995. Since 2002, he has been curated by the publishing house of the series “Eastern European Poets” (“Poets of Eastern Europe”).

Matvey Yankelevich was recognized as a poet and translator, having received the membership of the New York Foundation for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. Among his most famous works are the poetic collection Alpha Donut and the novel Boris by the Sea. His collection of translations by Daniil Kharms “Today I Wrote Nothing: The Selected Writings of Daniil Kharms” was noted by critics of TLS, the Guardian, the New York Times and many other publications, and the joint translation work with Evgeny Ostashevsky by Alexander Vvedensky “An Invitation for Me to Think ”(“ Invitation to Think About Me ”) was awarded the National Translation Award in 2014.

Monica De La Torre, one of the authors published in the Ugly Duckling Presse, grew up in Mexico City and went to New York in 1993 to study Spanish literature at Columbia University. Monica De La Torre is a member of the New York Foundation for the Arts and has written for BOMB Magazine and Brooklyn Rail at various times. She also co-authored a bilingual anthology of Mexican poetry “Reversible Monuments: Contemporary Mexican Poetry” (2002), and her Spanish translations include collections of poets Lila Zemborain and Gerardo Deniz. The most famous works of Monica De La Torre were poetry collections “Talk Shows” (2007) and “Public Domain” (2008). Her poetry explores the concept of personality and its trajectory through the prism of black humor. Each poem is an improvisation in which strange characters are often inexplicable, but at the same time understandable to the reader.

March 24

17: 00-18.00 - Poetic readings. Participants: Matvey Yankelevich, Monica De La Torre, professional translators.

18: 45-20: 30 - Round table. Participants: Matvey Yankelevich, Monica De La Torre, Mikhail Aizenberg, Dmitry Kuzmin and Alexander Skidan.

Location: The space of the bar-gallery "Migration tavern" and the bookstore "Word Order". “Migration tavern” - a new place on the book map of Moscow, named after the novel by Gilbert Chesterton. It combines a bar, gallery and bookstore with a creative atmosphere and a freedom-loving spirit.

Address: Mansurovsky per., 10, p. 2.

Free admission.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

“Written in the USA” is a joint project of the online publication about modern culture and society COLTA. RU and the international association of writers, poets and journalists of PEN America. The project opens for the Russian audience bright representatives of modern American literature - writers, poets, publishers, whose name is already known to the American reader, but so far unfamiliar to the Russian audience. Each visit of the project participants to Russia includes a lecture and large discussions devoted to the discussion of literary processes in Russia and America. Earlier in the project, Russia was visited by June Lee, one of the 20 best writers under 40 in 2010 according to The New Yorker (a lecture and meeting with Russian writers in April 2017), and Sergio De La Pava, author of the legendary 864-page novel “ The Naked Singularity ”(“ A Naked Singularity ”), which attracted the attention of The Guardian, The Washington Post and VICE (a round table with publishers and writers in December 2017).

“Our idea of American literature and American culture is strongly determined by what is now being translated into Russian. These are mainly first level bestsellers. Remarkable books and authors whose work does not fit the logic of the “big novel” remain on the sidelines. And this is an important part of various, interesting and expressive literature. We decided to contrast this logic with direct acquaintance with writers. This is an unfamiliar America, America, which we do not know. The authors we bring in represent different parts of the spectrum - and it turns out that our understanding of American literature still needs to be amended and there is much to add, ”says Maria Stepanova, editor-in-chief of the online publication on contemporary culture and society COLTA. RU.

Organizers of the festival: COLTA. RU and PEN America

COLTA. RU is the main site in Russia about culture and society. This is a project of the same team that created and made the famous OpenSpace.ru site for five years. COLTA. RU exists according to a revolutionary model for Russian media: it is a public media, an independent publication that exists without state assistance, without owners and investors, solely on grants and donations from readers. The project is supported by professionals in all areas of culture. The Board of Trustees of the site includes Irina Prokhorova, Alexander Rodnyansky, Julia Shakhnovskaya, Demyan Kudryavtsev, Dmitry Borisov and many others.

PEN America is a non-governmental organization whose goal is to protect free expression in the United States and around the world. We fight for the right of writers to freely express their thoughts, recognizing the power of words in the transformation of the world. Our mission is to unite the writing community to promote creative expression and protect the rights and freedoms that make it possible.

Project partners: bookstore "Word Order", bar gallery "Migration tavern".