October 8, 6:30 pm
New York Public Library
Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library
7th Floor Event Center
455 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10016
In-person and Livestreamed
REGISTRATION
For the Banned Books Week, Yasha Klots, Valeria K. and Mark Lipovetsky of the Tamizdat Project join us to shed light on smuggled literature that defied Soviet censorship and illuminate the enduring power of the printed word.
Throughout the Soviet century, tamizdat (literally, “published over there,” or abroad) comprised manuscripts rejected, censored, or never submitted for publication at home but smuggled through various channels across the Iron Curtain and printed elsewhere, with or without their authors’ knowledge or consent. Until perestroika, when the curtain began to rust, these books were used as weapons on the cultural fronts of the Cold War.
In this talk, Yasha Klots, joined by the Tamizdat Project data specialist Valeria K. and coeditor of The Tamizdat Review Mark Lipovetsky, will speak about the history of tamizdat as a literary practice and political institution from the Cold War era to the present, when censorship and political repressions in Russia and Belarus have forced an increasing number of authors, publishers, and readers into exile, especially after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. He will also speak about the Tamizdat Project, a public scholarship initiative for the study of banned books from the former USSR and Easter Europe, as well as a small press and a philanthropic organization.