March 01, 2013 Translator Update #4: A Grubby Job Whenever I read about Constance Garnett, doyenne of Russian-to-English literary translation, sitting in the garden and banging out her work with scarcely a break for reflection (“She would finish a page,” D.H. Lawrence tells us, “and throw it off on a pile on the floor without looking up...”), I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. History Literature
January 01, 2013 Trains, Circassians and Method Acting Like many frequent travelers to Russia, I have countless train-related memories of Russia, most of them positive.
January 01, 2013 Orest Kiprensky Orest Kiprensky was one of Russia's finest early nineteenth-century painters. We share a painting he created in 1813.
January 01, 2013 Galina Vishnevskaya A look back at the life and contribution of opera singer, actress and dissident Galina Vishnevskaya, who passed away in December.
January 01, 2013 Three Histories and Some Magic Tales Reviews of three works of history and one collection of fiction.
January 01, 2013 Lucky Cookies Kozuli: these fragrant, decorative cookies have their origin in the Russian North, in Arkhangelsk, to be more specific. And they are perfect for a holiday celebration.
January 01, 2013 Stanislavsky at 150 Actor and director Konstantin Stanislavsky, born a century and a half ago this month, probably had more impact on twentieth century theater, movies and acting than any single individual.
January 01, 2013 Crowning Achievements This year marks the 400th anniversary of the beginning of the Romanov dynasty in Russia. A Washington museum is using the anniversary to show off some of its unique holdings, including several amazing coronation albums.
January 01, 2013 On the Iron Roads For the past 175 years, railways have bound together the sprawling Russian state, enabling industrialization, social mobility and contact with the outside world. Yet they have also been an important cultural and literary touchpoint.
January 01, 2013 The Long Way Home One hundred and fifty years ago, Tsarist Russia expelled some 400,000 Circassians from their homeland in the Caucasus. Now some of them – caught in the middle of the Syrian Civil War – want to return.
January 01, 2013 Circassian Folk Tales In this issue's installment of Uchites, we look at two folk tales of Circassian origin (in connection with our lead story on this ethnic group).