The Art Seen and Pushkin House present an opportunity to watch the recording of one of the recent pieces by prominent theatre director Dmitry Krymov “Everyone is Here”. After having been practically banned in Russia and all of his productions cancelled Krymov has now left the country. Join us online on Saturday 19 November at 1pm for the Q&A with the author. The recording of “Everyone is Here” will be available from Wednesday 16 November till Sunday 20 November.

Konstantin Paustovsky was the standard-bearer for the liberal tradition in Russia and an outspoken critic of Soviet repression at the time of his death in 1968. Set amidst the bloody turbulence of the First World War, the Russian Revolution and Civil War, The Story of a Life, Paustovsky's epic autobiographical masterpiece, captures with rare lyrical beauty and power the writer's humane vision and his abhorrence of violence in all its forms. In a review of Douglas Smith’s new translation, the Spectator observed that “A more gloriously life-affirming book is unlikely to emerge this year.” Now, at this dark hour in the history of Russia and Ukraine, Paustovsky’s voice is needed more than ever.

Stage Russia and Pushkin House are proud to present an online screening of Takoy Theatre's Iran Conference by Ivan Vyrypaev followed by a Q&A with the playwright. The recording will be available from 26 January till the end of 30 January and the Q&A will take place online (via Zoom) at 7pm GMT on Friday 28 January.

Ivan Vyrypaev’s thought-provoking and timely Iran Conference takes place at a symposium in Denmark where influential public figures and scientists gather to discuss the current clash of modern Western liberal ideology with traditional religious consciousness and way of life. An attempt to present reports prepared by the lecturers quickly transforms into a lively conversation about spirituality, ethical dilemmas and personal experiences related to the condition of humanity today. Vyrypaev’s aim is, of course, not to deliberate on the East/West friction, but to present a true-to-life philosophical parable about humanity, faith and love.

Pushkin House and the producers of Chekhov Bows & Leaves invite you to the first public table reading of the script of a new film by director Sandy Strallen: a meditative reflection on death, dread and destiny.

As the final event in our COSMOS: Reverse Perpective exhibition season, and to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the first man-made object to pass Venus (the Soviet Venera-1 probe), we're joined by an anthropologist - Tim Ingold, a historian - Yehuda Safran, and a psychologist - Vadim Ryabikov, as well as the artists and curators of the exhibition. They'll be discussing the philosophy and experience of space, and we'll be hearing from students in Russia who answer the question "Would you like to go into space?"

How does the ability of the human imagination to shape the world translate to the way our cities are built, and how will change in the age of space travel? Find out in this fascinating discussion and Q&A, featuring academic Yehuda Safran joining from Central Park, artist and architect Gleb Sobolev joining from Moscow's Kolomenskoye Park, and artist Liz Davis joining from Greenwich, with curator Pierre d'Avoine. Artist Marina Sokolova and curator Anna Gorskaya will join from Moscow’s Sparrow Hills, and Michał Milczarek will join from Krakow to discuss the city’s spires.

As part of our new exhibition COSMOS: Reverse Perspective, join artist Gleb Sobolev and scientist Dr Iya Whiteley for a conversation with Sergei Avdeev, former cosmonaut and engineer, who at one point held the record for longest time spent in space, and longest time dilation experienced by a human.

For World Theatre Day 2021 we speak to Fraser Grace, author of BLISS, forthcoming in publication from Methuen

Fraser Grace’s new play is based on The River Potudan, a short story by Andrey Platonov (1899-1951), and was rapturously received at the Platonov International Festival in Voronezh in 2019. The play’s publication this month marks the seventieth anniversary of Platonov’s death from tuberculosis, and almost 100 years since the events depicted in Platonov’s story.

A night of cutting-edge Russian contemporary literature, with the authors, translators and editors of a new issue of Words Without Borders.

Join the editors, translators and authors for an online roundtable on subjects such as the Russian literary scene in Western European cities, anti-war poetry by women and translating web-based literature, followed by a bilingual reading.

“Genius does not create. It reflects.”

Join Pushkin House for a preview staging of Anita Brokmeier and Anna Clart’s new play, about the forgotten female voices and lived experiences Leo Tolstoy co-opted to write Anna Karenina. Then, watch a Q&A with the creators and actors. Live in-person tickets and streaming available.

In his first talk for Pushkin House, Mark Galeotti tells Russia’s story. In this second one, he reflects on the craft, tough decisions and political complexities behind assembling that story. How does one make the difficult choices on what to cover and what to exclude? What are the most important threads that tie it together, and how does one avoid simply forcing Russia to fit one’s prejudices and preconceptions?

Everything you wanted to know but never had the time to find out, with the acclaimed author of The Vory and We Need to Talk About Putin. Please join us as Mark Galeotti, author of A Short History of Russia, offers up a whistle-stop tour of Russia’s evolution from Rurik’s arrival on the shores of Lake Ladoga in 862 (maybe) to Vladimir Putin’s latest reinvention of the country.

Ethan Pollock, professor of History and Slavic studies at Brown University and author of the first English-language history of the Russian bathhouse, tells the history of this ubiquitous and enduring institution. He explores the bathhouse's role in Russian identity, following public figures (from Catherine the Great to Rasputin to Putin), writers (such as Chekhov and Dostoevsky), foreigners (including Mark Twain and Casanova), and countless other men and women into the banya to discover the meanings they have found there.

Join us in a quest to better understand the vast heartland of Asia, through a talk by Caroline Eden on her book Red Sands which navigates a course from the shores of the Caspian Sea to the sun-ripened orchards of the Fergana Valley. Caroline will be in conversation with Viv Groskop.

Jonathan Slaght, conservationist, researcher and expert on Blakiston's fish owl, tells the story of how he saved the world's largest owl. Jonathan will be in conversation with Sophy Roberts, the travel writer and author of The Lost Pianos of Siberia.

Join journalists Irina Borogan and Andrei Soldatov for a talk based on their new book The Compatriots which explores the Motherland's role in the lives of exiles, émigrés and agents abroad.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Soviet history has played a significant role in informing Russian national identity and uniting the nation. The instrumentalisation of this memory during the Yeltsin and Putin eras will be discussed by three young researchers Allyson Edwards, Lucy Birge and Issy Sawkins in a discussion chaired by Dr Kristin Roth-Ey of UCL.

In English.

Join us for an evening with Catherine Belton who will be discussing her critically acclaimed book ‘Putin’s Russia’. Catherine will be in conversation with Craig Kennedy, Chairman of the Pushkin House Board of Trustees.

Join us for an evening with Joan Neuberger whose book ‘This Thing of Darkness’ has been shortlisted for the Pushkin House Book Prize 2020. Joan will be in conversation with Serhii Plokhy, chair of the 2020 Prize judges and twice winner of the Pushkin House Book Prize in 2015 and 2019.

Join us for an evening with Bathsheba Demuth whose book ‘Floating Coast’ has been shortlisted for the Pushkin House Book Prize 2020. Bathsheba will be in conversation with Richard Wright, one of the 2020 Prize judges.

Join us for an evening with Brian Boeck whose book ‘Stalin’s Scribe’ has been shortlisted for the Pushkin House Book Prize 2020. Brian will be in conversation with Celestine Bohlen, one of the 2020 Prize judges.

Join us for an evening with Kate Brown whose book ‘Manual for Survival’ has been shortlisted for the Pushkin House Book Prize 2020. Drawing on a decade of archival research and on-the-ground interviews, Kate unveils the full breadth of the devastation and the whitewash that followed the Chernobyl disaster. Kate will be in conversation with Serhii Plokhy, chair of the 2020 Prize judges and twice winner of the Pushkin House Book Prize in 2015 and 2019.

Приглашаем посетить беседу с Сергеем Медведевым! Его книга “Парк Крымского периода” (The Return of the Russian Leviathan) одна из шести, номинированных на получение книжного приза Пушкинского Дома 2020 года. Ведущая вечера: декан факультета истории, кандидат исторических наук Юля Сафронова, одна из судей, кто будет решать, кто получит этот приз.

Join us for an evening with Sergei Medvedev, whose book ‘The Return of the Russian Leviathan’ has been shortlisted for the Pushkin House Book Prize 2020. Sergei will be in conversation in English with Richard Wright, one of the 2020 Prize judges.

Irina FLIGE, director of the Memorial Research & Information Centre (St Petersburg), Flige talks about the problems arising from Russia’s failure to transcend its past and describes the search for places of mass burial and their investigation. With John Crowfoot, she will present the Map of Memory website, in an expanded, English version.

This is no discussion of distant past events. It concerns the recent “Network” trials and convictions and, above all else, the Dmitriev Affair, now in its sixth year.

“This summer I committed the greatest crime a Soviet writer could commit. According to Soviet rules here, publication of a book abroad before it comes out in the Soviet Union is an illegal act of which I would severely be punished. I don’t know how.” In English (with some Russian and French).

Please join us for the closing event of Pushkin House’s First Contemporary Russian Poetry in Translation Residency with Galina Rymbu and Helena Kernan. Translator Kernan and poet Rymbu will perform readings of the originals and translations of Rymbu’s work that they have been working on together over the previous three weeks on a residency arranged collaboratively with Queen’s College, St Edmund’s Hall, and University College Oxford. They will also talk about the experience of being on the Residency together.