Support The Moscow Times!

Join a Poetry Marathon in Moscow at Noon on Friday

Polytech Museum is hosting a 12-hour poetry marathon

The audience at Polytech listening to Thaw era poets "I Am Twenty," by Marlen Khutsiev 1965

This Friday at noon, the venerable Polytechnic Museum is hosting #ПолитехLive, a poetry marathon of more than 50 poets and readers that will last until midnight. Aired here on the museum's YouTube channel, it will hosted by the poet and dramatist Andrei Rodionov.

Among the poets whose work will be read: Dmitry Vodennikov, Linor Goralik, Yevgeny Lavut, Yelena Fanailova, Dmitry Kuzmin, Galina Rymbu, Yelena Kostyleva, and Alexander Delfinov. Two poets, Aigel Gaisina and Diana Arbenina, will recite their own works.

The readers are a who's who of Russia's most esteemed and beloved cultural figures, including Kirill Serebrennikov, Ingeborga Dapkunaite, Yuri Saprykin, Marina Brusnikina, Ivan Vyprypayev, Alyona Doletskaya and many others.

The Polytech Museum was founded in 1872 and soon began to hold lectures by some of the greatest figures in the scientific world. But in period leading up to the 1917 Revolution and right after, the Museum began to hold cultural events. Here the Jack of Diamonds art group argued for their new avant-garde art and a young poet named Vladimir Mayakovsky recited his first verse in public. The Big Lecture Hall hosted such writers and Boris Pasternak, Mikhail Bulgakov, and Vsevolod Meyerhold. 

After a break of several decades, it opened its doors again in the late 1950s and 60s to the new generation of Thaw era writers and poets. One of the performances was filmed by Marlen Khutsiev for his film "I Am Twenty" and has gone down in history as the apotheosis of Thaw era culture.

The Museum is under reconstruction, but you can read more about this institution in English on the site.

Meanwhile, dip into the poetry marathon over the day. If you miss something, you can view the entire 12-hour performance on YouTube later.

Sign up for our free weekly newsletter

Our weekly newsletter contains a hand-picked selection of news, features, analysiss and more from The Moscow Times. You will receive it in your mailbox every Friday. Never miss the latest news from Russia. Preview
Subscribers agree to the Privacy Policy

A Message from The Moscow Times:

Dear readers,

We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."

These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.

We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.

Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.

By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.

Once
Monthly
Annual
Continue
paiment methods
Not ready to support today?
Remind me later.

Read more