New Book Donation
A box of precious books from the Ukrainian Cultural Center in Warren, MI!

Tamizdat Project is a public scholarship and philanthropic organization dedicated to the study of exile and cultural displacement, state censorship and banned or endangered books from the Cold War to the present, with a focus on the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. This story is not just history, it is still unfolding. On our website, and through a series of live events and other programs in NYC and beyond, we bring archival discoveries, eyewitness accounts, and other forms of knowledge about banned books to the international community of students, scholars, and the general public.

Our online archive of documents explores the first publications, circulation, and reception of contraband manuscripts from behind the Iron Curtain on their way to the readers at home and abroad. The archive highlights the historical, geopolitical, cultural, and material aspects of tamizdat as a literary practice and political institution of the Cold War era.

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Long after the Cold War ended, books are still banned in such countries as Russia and Belarus, to name but a few. Our archive extends to nowadays, raising awareness about state censorship and documenting exterritorial publications by authors who have been forced into exile or are unable to publish at home.

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Our programs consist of philanthropy, oral history, conferences, summer schools, and publishing. We support students and scholars displaced by war or repressions in their home countries, run interviews with actors of tamizdat then and now, organize conferences and exhibitions devoted to banned books, teach courses on writing and publishing in exile, and publish our own books.

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Our events series offers a platform for writers, artists, journalists, filmmakers, stage directors, musicians, scholars, and intellectuals who work on Slavic, East European, and Eurasian cultures to present their work in New York. The events are designed to inspire students and are usually free and open to the public. Recording of in-person events are published on our website and YouTube channel.

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As a public scholarship and philanthropic organization, Tamizdat Project depends on your contributions to fulfill our mission through public programming, research and education, digitizing knowledge and making it available to wide audiences, as well as supporting students and scholars displaced by war or repressions in their home countries. Thank you for your support! 

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