Notre Dame to launch first English translation of Solzhenitsyn memoir at fall conference

Ignat Solzhenitsyn — renowned conductor and pianist, and son of the late Russian novelist Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn — will speak at the University of Notre Dame for the launch of the first English translation of his father’s memoir, “Between Two Millstones, Book 1: Sketches of Exile, 1974-1978,”  published by University of Notre Dame Press at the centenary of the author’s birth. 

The launch will take place during “Higher Powers,” a three-day Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture conference examining the proper relationship between God, the human person and the state. Ignat Solzhenitsyn and Daniel Mahoney, distinguished Solzhenitsyn scholar and professor of political science at Assumption College, will deliver a joint plenary session at 8 p.m. Nov. 1 (Thursday) in McKenna Hall Auditorium.

Notre Dame's “Higher Powers” 2018 Fall Conference To Focus on Solzhenitsyn

What is the proper relationship between God, the human person, and the state? In a 1993 address, Nobel Laureate Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn observed that, “having refused to recognize the unchanging Higher Power above us, we have filled that space with personal imperatives, and suddenly life has become a harrowing prospect indeed.” Twenty-five years after Solzhenitsyn’s address, and one hundred years after his birth, the Center for Ethics and Culture’s 19th Annual Fall Conference will consider how every human pursuit can be oriented toward higher powers and reflect on the true measures of social progress, the role of morality in law and politics, and the dynamics of liberty, dignity, self-sacrifice, and the good in public life.

McKenna lecture in Montpelier

Kevin McKenna presented a lecture on Solzhenitsyn yesterday at the Vermont Historical Society in Montpelier.  

Vermont History Museum to Host Solzhenitsyn Scholar for Talk

On Thursday, 17 May, University of Vermont Professor Kevin J. McKenna will be the guest speaker at a luncheon hosted by the Vermont History Museum. His talk is entitled, "No Man Is a Prophet in His Own Land’: Russia’s Loss Has Been Vermont’s Gain.”

Open to the public, this event will occur in conjunction with the opening of a photo exhibit devoted to Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and the time he spent living in Vermont (1975-1994). McKenna will present a general introduction to Solzhenitsyn and his life in Cavendish, as well as what his presence in Vermont meant for Vermonters.

This is the Vermont History Museum's "Third Thursday Talk" for May. The presentation will begin at 12:00pm.

Attendees will have a chance to view the Solzhenitsyn exhibit, which officially opens Saturday, 19 May. 

Solzhenitsyn Historian to Speak At The Institute of Linguistics, Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow

Professor Brian McKenna of University of Vermont will speak at the The Institute of Linguistics, Russian Academy of Sciences at a seminar their task force is hosting in Moscow on 29 May 29 at 3PM.  McKenna's presentation is entitled, "No Man Is a Prophet in His Own Land: Vermont’s (USA) Centennial Observance of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s Birth and Life". 

From the presentation's abstract:

"December 12, 2018 marks the 100th anniversary of Nobel Prize Laureate Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s birthday.  Born in Kislovodsk, Russia, Solzhenitsyn late in life became a resident of Cavendish, Vermont where he and his wife (Natalia Dmitriyevna) raised their three sons over the course of 18 years.  Why did this famous and brilliant Russian writer select Vermont for his new “home?” What was life like for a Russian-born writer in the verdant hills and valleys of  Vermont?  While Solzhenitsyn was certainly a “prophet” in his native Russia in the 1960s-1970s, why did the United States turn its “back” on their “new prophet” following his Harvard Commencement Lecture in 1978?  What explains the decision of everyday Vermonters in Cavendish to refuse to abandon Solzhenitsyn following the Harvard Lecture? And in Russia itself, was its proverbial prophet abandoned upon his return to his homeland in 1994? Can, indeed, “prophets” return to their homeland, be it Russia or Vermont?  And, if so, how did Russian proverbs sustain the daily life, and influence the literary works of this famous and invaluable Russian writer?  To address these questions, analysis will turn to the role of proverbs in Solzhenitsyn’s Nobel Prize Lecture, Мир спасёт красота/ "Beauty Will Save the World" as well as to his novella, Матрёнин двор/ "Matryona's Home"."

Solzhenitsyn at 100: Upcoming Exhibit and Talk in Montpelier

The opening of a new exhibition, "Solzhenitsyn at 100: Celebrating the Life and Work of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn in Honor of his 100th Birthday", will take place on Saturday, May 19th at the Vermont Historical Society Museum in Montpelier. The exhibit, which will run through the summer, outlines the writer's life with a focus on the twenty years that he and his family called Vermont home (1975-1994). 

Prior to the exhibit's official opening, on Thursday, May 17th, University of Vermont Professor Kevin J. McKenna will be the guest speaker at a luncheon hosted by the museum. His talk is entitled, "No Man Is a Prophet in His Own Land’: Russia’s Loss Has Been Vermont’s Gain.” McKenna will present a general introduction to Solzhenitsyn and his life in Cavendish, as well as what his presence in Vermont meant for Vermonters.

This is the Vermont History Museum's "Third Thursday Talk" for May. The presentation will begin at 12:00pm; coffee & water will be provided. Organizers welcome attendees to bring lunch to eat while listening.

Attendees will have a chance to view the Solzhenitsyn exhibit, which officially opens Saturday, May 19th. 

Vermont General Assembly Passes Resolution Recognizing Solzhenitsyn

On March 21st, the Vermont General Assembly passed a resolution in Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's honor. Ignat Solzhenitsyn and representatives of Cavendish, Vermont were on hand in Montpelier to be presented with official copies of Resolution HCR-199.

“No. R-248. House concurrent resolution commemorating the 100th anniversary of the birth of the Russian author, historian, and former Cavendish resident Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn.”

"What Men Live By": Paper Presented at the Annual AATSEEL Meeting

This year's annual meeting of the American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages (AAATSEEL) took place on February 3rd in Washington, D.C, where Professor Kevin McKenna of University of Vermont presented a lecture entitled, “‘What Men Live By’: Leo Tolstoy’s Proverb-Parable As a Source for Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s Novel, Cancer Ward.”

McKenna's paper will be published at a later date.

Margo Caulfield Leads Book Discussion and Movie Viewing

On January 23rd, author and historian Margo Caulfield led a book discussion of One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich in Ludlow, Vermont at Fletcher Memorial Library.

Caufield is the author of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: The Writer Who Changed History, an introduction to Solzhenitsyn's life and writings, published in 2016.

“Solzhenitsyn: The Untranslated Oeuvre”

Solzhenitsyn translators Peter Constantine and Marian Schwartz are to speak in New York City as part of Russian Literature Week.  They will discuss works of Solzhenitsyn not yet published in English.

Ignat Solzhenitsyn Speaks About "Writing the Red Wheel"

Last week Ignat Solzhenitsyn, son of the author, presented a lecture in Brattleboro, Vermont on "Writing the Red Wheel in Vermont", about the unique approach used by Solzhenitsyn in tackling this enormously complex literary project.  The lecture was part of the Vermont Humanities Council First Wednesdays series. 

2014.04.02 Ignat Solzhenitsyn "First Wednesdays" lecture at Brooks Memorial Library, Brattleboro, Vermont