澳门六合彩

BY BLAIR RUBLE

A month after Russia sent its troops into Ukraine, the prestigious literary quarterly the Paris Review brief responses to the war by a dozen Odesan writers. Some authors wrote about the shock of war, others about a need to be in the city despite its dangers. Still others found solace in glimpsing seagulls flying over city streets as if there were no war. The impossibility of writing during war is a shared theme among many; the imperative to write united others. Each writer responded in ways both universal and very specific to Odesa.

Odesa has been a writer鈥檚 city from its founding in 1794 as a multicultural outpost of empire. The city鈥檚 Literature Museum has identified more than 300 writers who have significant connections to the city. The corpus of Odesa literature is noteworthy for having been written in several languages, including Russian, Ukrainian, Yiddish, Romanian, Greek, Italian, and even English.

Isaac Babel, Yevgeny Petrov, Ilya Ilf, Vera Inber, Ze鈥檈v Jabotinsky, Valentin Kataev, and Yevgeny Petrov are among the most noteworthy Odesa authors. Many more鈥攊ncluding Alexander Pushkin, Ivan Bunin, and Anna Akhmatova鈥攈ave significant Odesa connections despite being better known for associations elsewhere. Odesan 茅migr茅 writers鈥攕uch as lyricist Lew Brown, poet Ilya Kaminsky, and sci-fi master Alex Shvartsman鈥攃arried the city鈥檚 culture with them in childhood relocation.

This tradition is not just historical. The best-selling contemporary satirist and novelist Andrey Kurkov began his writing career penning children鈥檚 literature while meeting his Soviet military obligation by serving as a prison guard in the city. As Ilya Kaminsky recounts for readers of the Paris Review, writing in Odesa begins early with distinguished local writers and journalists visiting schools to encourage children鈥攕uch as Kaminsky鈥攖o write.

The Odesa Literature Museum is part of the story. In 1898 the city council rented the centrally located Palace of Prince Gagarin, turning it over to the Odessa Literary and Artistic Society. The society survived the vicissitudes of two world wars, the arrival of the Soviets, Romanian occupation, and Stalinism, collecting invaluable manuscript collections along the way. In 1977, the writer and bibliographer Mikita Oleksiiovich Brigyn joined with others to convince authorities in Kyiv to convert the club into a museum.

Open to the public and researchers, the museum nurtured a comprehensive vision of Odesan literature embracing multiple genres, languages and cultures. Its public lecture series and literary events promote local authors and traditions. This role took on expanded importance following independence when literature became a vehicle for establishing a distinct Ukrainian cultural identity. That identity, when viewed through the prism of museum activities and exhibits, is confidently multicultural.

Post-independence Odesa has been a city in which literature matters. The often tragic stories of Odesa鈥檚 authors are commemorated in memorial plaques and statues. A monument to Ilf and Petrov鈥檚 famous novel The Twelfth Chair is to be found on central Derybasivska street. Isaac Babel鈥檚 statue sits a few blocks away on Zhukovskoho street. Ivan Bunin, who has a major street named in his honor, has a monument on Zhukovskoho street.

The war has edged closer to Odesa since the Paris Review published its collection of literary conversations. Russian rockets have obliterated any sense of normality for those who remain. The Literature Museum is closed, yet its workers continue to celebrate International Museum Day, to post pieces about its collections on its website and Facebook page, and to set out as they do every spring to clean the winter鈥檚 detritus from the graves of writers resting in cemeteries of multiple faiths.

Odesa remains a city where writing matters. The city鈥檚 literary heritage preserved the various versions of the city鈥檚 past collected in vastly different historical eras by Odesans of marked range and variety. All remain 鈥淥desan writers,鈥� and as such, the city鈥檚 variety becomes its unity. Viewed within this larger storyline, today鈥檚 war is but another chapter in a vibrant literary culture certain to continue well into the future.

The opinions expressed in this article are those solely of the author and do not reflect the views of the Kennan Institute.