What does it mean to conduct scholarly research and compose poems about a historical event like the Siege of Leningrad? When it comes to enhancing our understanding of the past and present, how do scholarly and artistic activities complement or interfere with one another? Join Polina Barskova and Benjamin Paloff as they discuss their experience as scholars and poets.
Polina Barskova is associate professor of Russian literature at Hampshire College and an acclaimed Russian poet and translator. Her current research project is “Peterburg Besieged: Culture of the Aesthetic Opposition”
Benjamin Paloff is assistant professor of Polish and Comparative Literature at the University of Michigan, he writes poetry in English and translates from Polish, Russian and Czech. He is working on a project titled “Worlds Apart: Real-Life Fictions of Concentration Camps, Ghettos, and Besieged Cities.”
