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Russian writers visit Oxford
The Daily Mississippian (Oxford, MS)
Posted on April 11, 2005
By Bryan Doyle
Four Russian writers will read their work and discuss Russian culture at two events on campus this week as a part of the Open World Cultural Leaders Program.
The event is hosted by the English Department and the Croft Institute and coordinated by English professor Douglas Robinson.
Stanislav Lvovsky, Nataliya Kurchatova, Aleksandr Skidan and Anastasia Gosteva will participate in a panel discussion on Russian and American culture at the Croft Institute auditorium tomorrow at 8 p.m. They will also give a reading on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Old Chemistry. The events are free and open to the public.
Robinson said the U.S. government spends a large amount of money to bring foreign cultural leaders from various fields to the United States to expose them to American culture.
The purpose is to bring foreign writers to America is to allow them to meet their American counterparts, let them witness American culture, and bring their experience back with them to their home country, Robinson said.
The four writers arrived in Oxford last week, giving a reading at Off-Square Books on Friday morning. Robinson said the writers were able to only give a brief taste of their work, and will be allowed much more time at the hour-long reading on Wednesday.
“These are extraordinarily articulate and talented people interested in learning about the South and America and the world,” Robinson said.
Tuesday’s panel discussion will be monitored by Robinson and Michael Metcalf, director of the Croft Institute and professor of history.
Metcalf said the discussion has been built as a comparative dialogue of America and Russian culture, discussing recent trends in Russian culture and how they differ from American culture.
The writers will spend a significant amount of time involved in cultural life in the Oxford area. An entire day will be dedicated to Mississippi writer William Faulkner, including at tour of Rowan Oak and other Faulkner-related sites.
They will also visit various cultural locations in Memphis and sites celebrating blues music in Clarksdale.
The Open World Cultural Leaders Program is managed by the Open World Leadership Center at the Library of Congress, and the National Endowment for the Arts assists in organization.
The leaders program serves as a cultural exchange program.
“The delegation comes to a specific university and locals organize 10- to 14-day program centered on what they offer,” Robinson said. “The visits include local sites and interaction with local writers.”
The program has been going on for two years, and has sponsored recent visits to the University of Iowa and the University of North Carolina, Robinson said.
Metcalf said Russia is a society going through difficult transitions, transforming to a more liberal political system and a market economy.
Attendees of this week’s events will be able to view an interesting perspective to the changing Russian society, as one nation’s creative observers explain their own society to the outside world.
The introduction of American culture also brings a different aspect to the writers’ visit.
“It’s nice to have visitors coming in to provide perspectives on American society that we don’t have,” Metcalf said.
[Reprinted with Permission]
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