Professor Michael Makin's translation of Mikhail Starodub’s tale “The Mark of Her Excellency the Firebird” took first place in the translation category of the competition at the Open Eurasia 2017 Festival, held this year in Stockholm, by the Open Eurasian Literature Festival and Book Forum.  The prize-winners were announced here: http://www.rus.ocabookforum.com/.  There were over 1200 entries across all categories. See Makin's translation at http://www.17.ocabookforum.com/michael-makin/, where there is also a link to the Russian original.

In October Makin travelled to Russia, where he presented a paper on Klyuev and Kuzmin at the annual Klyuev conference in Vytegra, Vologda oblast’.  In Vytegra he also gave the opening address at a schoolchildren’s poetry reading contest, was called upon to speak at various official events (blessing of the Klyuev memorial, visit to the cemetery where Klyuev’s parents are thought to be buried, etc.) and gave a talk on Russian literary modernism at the Vytegra Polytechnical Technical (sic) institute.  In Moscow and the Moscow area, in Suzdal’ and Vladimir, and in St Petersburg Makin conducted research and collected materials for his courses.