Anna Akhmatova: Poet and Prophet - Softcover

Reeder, Roberta

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0312134290 ISBN 13: 9780312134297

Publisher: Picador USA, 1995

Synopsis

This riveting biography tells the tragic story of one of our century's great poets. Born to aristocracy, Anna was raised in St. Petersburg in the twilight of the Romanov dynasty. With gift for poetry and prophecy, she became a cult figure among the intelligentsia of the Silver Age. Inclues 39 pages of photos.

About this title

About the Author

Roberta Reeder has devoted much of her life to the study of Russian culture. She has published The Complete Poems of Anna Akhmatova and Russian Folk Lyrics and has written over forty articles on Russian culture. She also adapted Akhmatova s narrative poem, Poem without a Hero, as a dance-drama with music by Alexander and Ivan Tcherepnin at the Theater Institute in Giessen, Germany. She has taught at major institutions such as Harvard and Yale as well as at the university in Marburg, Germany and the former Bauhaus in Weimaer, Germany. As Artistic Director of Ensemble Theater of Cambridge, she organized many concerts, art exhibitions, film series, and symposiums on East European culture. She is currently doing research and teaching at the University of Venice and the Conservatory Benedetto Marcello, as well as organizing concerts and films series in Venice, Italy.

From Booklist

One of Russia's greatest poets, Akhmatova (1889-1966) was born as the curtain fell on Imperial Russia and lived to endure and write about the deprivations and horrors of the Soviet regime. A profoundly private person, Akhmatova is not an easy subject for a in-depth psychological portrait, but Reeder has done well with the material at hand, illuminating both Akhmatova and her world. Akhmatova's childhood was not a happy one, but she felt a distinct sense of destiny about her future, a prescience she possessed throughout her difficult life. Her first book of poems, Evening, was published in 1912 and Akhmatova, slender and regal, was soon at the very center of St. Petersburg's literary circle. An admirer of Pushkin, Akhmatova created emotional resonance with simple words linked in unexpected combinations. She also managed to fill her poems with the sort of dynamic psychology found in the novels of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. Deeply patriotic, Akhmatova refused to leave her poor crushed country even after she was no longer allowed to publish, and her son was imprisoned and tortured. A woman of courage and immense spiritual strength, Akhmatova lived a life of calm dignity and integrity under a reign of terror, all the while writing poetry radiant with beauty, sorrow, and forgiveness. Donna Seaman

Edition details

• Publisher: Picador USA
• Publication date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0312134290
• ISBN 13: 9780312134297
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 619