20th-21st Century Fiction by Russian Women Writers

Historian Kristen Edwards and poet Natalya Sukhonos invite you to a series of seminars through the educational platform: https://personal-professors.com/ on recent fiction by Russian women writers whose voices are brave, distinct, and at times silenced. Their readings of contemporary novels and short stories will help foment discussion about Russian culture, gender, and history, and consider literature’s potential to confront a society weakened by economic, political, and military upheaval. Each week, they will briefly introduce the life and work of featured authors: Lyudmilla Petrushevskaya, Lyudmilla Ulitskaya, and Maria Stepanova. They will present a literary analysis for each work and promote a lot of class discussion about our texts. In addition, they will send out some optional supplementary readings on photography, art, and fairy tales to illuminate our discussion. We hope that this will be a great opportunity to learn more about recent Russian literature and learn from each other.

Featured texts and schedule:

• 1/7 Lyudmilla Petrushevskaya, There once lived a girl who seduced her sister’s husband, and he hanged himself: love stories (selections)
• 1/14 Lyudmila Ulitskaya, Sonechka and Other Stories (selections)
• 1/21 and 1/31 Maria Stepanova, In Memory of Memory, collection of essays (selections)

Payment: $300 for 4 seminars, or $100 each (to Natalya’s Zelle or Venmo) before the start of each seminar.

Note: Discounts are possible, as are recordings of each of the seminars.