In the first Reading Group of the year we will discuss Kolyma Stories by Varlam Shalamov, translated by Donald Rayfield. This masterpiece of twentieth-century literature is an epic array of short fictional tales reflecting the fifteen years that Varlam Shalamov spent in the Soviet Gulag.
The meeting will be facilitated by our bookshop co-curator Sasha Padziarei and engagement curator Alisa Oleva.
Shalamov spent six years as a slave in the gold mines of Kolyma before finding a less intolerable life as a paramedic in the prison camps. He began writing his account of life in Kolyma after Stalin's death in 1953. His stories are at once the biography of a rare survivor, a historical record of the Gulag, and a literary work of unparalleled creative power, insight and conviction.
Kolyma Stories is made up of four books; to do it justice in our two-hour group, we have decided to discuss just the first book of the four.
2021 saw the opening of Pushkin House’s very own physical bookshop in addition to our online store. While it is still being honed and developed, we are keen to highlight literature that inspires, encourages, moves and validates our readers. We also want to amplify the voices, writers and readers that historically didn’t get and, perhaps, still don’t get the visibility, power and appreciation they deserve. Most of all, we want to create a physical (and an online) place for connection where people can come and share their views.