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The Slavic Literature Pod @slaviclitpod.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

The book treads conversations about history, language, resilience in a country at war, imbalance, grievance. It synthesizes no particular point, intentionally so. No One Talks About the War is about the tapestry of life. Find a link to pre-order the book in the show notes.

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The Slavic Literature Pod @slaviclitpod.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

In 2023, Nina Kossman went to Ukraine with a simple plan: to volunteer, traverse the country, and -- most of all -- to talk to people. She recollects of those conversations in No One Talks About the War: Travels in Ukraine During the War.

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The Slavic Literature Pod @slaviclitpod.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

But in that March, Nina turned her eyes and ears outward. She wanted to learn and know what people thought, what they complained, cajoled, and talked about. This later became the material for a collection of short stories: No One Talks About the War. But you'll hear more about that on Friday.

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The Slavic Literature Pod @slaviclitpod.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

When Nina Kossman arrived in Ukraine in March, 2023, she wanted to understand. It was not the first time she'd come to Ukraine with that goal. Years prior, she had gone on a self-made heritage trip to the land where her grandparents were born, where her ancestors had lived.

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The Slavic Literature Pod @slaviclitpod.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Out today: I sit down with Drs. Halyna Babak and Yuliya Ilchuk to talk about their Vol. 1 & 2 of their new reader, Ukrainian Literary Modernism of the 1910s - Mid-1930s. Get an in-depth look at the forces that shaped Ukrainian literary movements through the early Soviet era.

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The Slavic Literature Pod @slaviclitpod.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Next week: Drs. Yuliya Ilchuk and Galina Babak join the podcast to talk about their new readers Ukrainian Literary Modernism of the 1910s - mid-1930s (Vol. I & II). We'll dive into the situation for artists in this period and what you can expect in these books.

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The Slavic Literature Pod @slaviclitpod.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Revolutions roiled the world at the turn of the 20th century. People fought these battles with the pen as well as the gun, inking bodies of literature and art for national and political projects. Their work pushed new artistic movements -- and caused others to seek the past.

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The Slavic Literature Pod @slaviclitpod.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Out today: Jake Zawlacki comes on the podcast to talk about his translation of Akhmet Baitursynov's Mosquito. Originally published in 1911, Baitursynov's poetry collection contains his desires and fears for the Kazakh people, polemic verses, and hopes for a yet-to-exist state.

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The Slavic Literature Pod @slaviclitpod.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Obviously, even before this work, he won no fame with the Tsarist government. Living in exile, Baitursynov published his poetry collection Mosquito in 1911. Its verses are full of hope and despair for the Kazakh people. There's more to say. But you'll hear that on Friday.

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The Slavic Literature Pod @slaviclitpod.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Around the turn of the 20th century, Akhmet Baitursynov was a poet of a state yet to come. His work teaching, reforming the Kazakh alphabet, and developing the language's grammar would eventually earn him the title "Teacher of the Nation."

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The Slavic Literature Pod @slaviclitpod.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Also, you can listen to me die inside when I realize my missing notes were in front of me all along. Get the episode anywhere you listen to your podcasts! Apple Podcasts: tinyurl.com/sofia-petrovna Spotify: tinyurl.com/petrovna-sofia

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The Slavic Literature Pod

Books Podcast · Updated Semiweekly · The Slavic Literature Pod is your guide to the literary traditions in and around the Slavic world. On each episode, Cameron Lallana sits down with scholars, transl...

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The Slavic Literature Pod @slaviclitpod.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Out today: Lydia Chukovskaya's Sofia Petrovna explores the years of the Great Terror in the USSR, following a mother whose can't accept that her son has been arrested on charges of terrorism. The novel explores the varying mentalities of how people reacted to the terror.

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The Slavic Literature Pod @slaviclitpod.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

"Just think of it, all these women, the mothers, wives and sisters of saboteurs, terrorists and spies! And the men, the husband or brother of one . . . They all looked perfectly ordinary, like those on a streetcar or a store. Except they all looked tired and baggy-eyed."

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The Slavic Literature Pod @slaviclitpod.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

(Ah, a Pride Month post in July…now there’s the Slavic Literature Pod’s trademark speediness) Pride Month is over; celebrating Pride is not. I have some further thoughts, but I don't want to subject you to 6 posts. Check out www.instagram.com/slaviclitpod/ if you'd like to read them.

A graphic with a green background. On the left side, vertically, is the text Happy Pride Month. There is the word belated in parentheses next to Happy.

On the right hand side is a vertical multi-Pride flag that stretches form the top to the bottom. Toward the bottom is the text "the Slavic Lit Pod"

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The Slavic Literature Pod @slaviclitpod.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

Plus, after seeing Butcher's Crossing and Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian paired so often in online discussions, I'd like to express some skepticism about meaningful comparison between the two. Apple Podcasts: tinyurl.com/slavlit-butc... Spotify: tinyurl.com/butcher-slav...

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For Your Consideration: John Williams' Butcher's Crossing (and why I don't think we should compare it to Blood Meridian)

Podcast Episode · The Slavic Literature Pod · June 12 · 1h 23m

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The Slavic Literature Pod @slaviclitpod.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

Or so smug that they have no personal hells to descend into?" In Butcher's Crossing, there are personal hells to descend into. And reading Emerson is the first step on that road.

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For Your Consideration: John Williams' Butcher's Crossing (and why I don't think we should compare it to Blood Meridian)

Podcast Episode · The Slavic Literature Pod · June 12 · 1h 23m

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The Slavic Literature Pod @slaviclitpod.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

Out today on For Your Consideration: I have some thoughts about John Williams' Butcher's Crossing. To take a line from Wallace Stegner: "Why...should Western books so often strike us as dealing with a past which has no present? Are Westerners so stupid that they don’t believe in evil? (Cont.)

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The Slavic Literature Pod @slaviclitpod.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

Plus, I get into why I think this episode, so to speak, encapsulates Grossman's philosophy about people and why his ideas remain provocative today. Get it wherever you listen to your podcasts! Spotify: tinyurl.com/last-letter-... Apple Podcasts: tinyurl.com/last-letter-...

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The Last Letter (2002) by Frederick Wiseman + What Vasily Grossman and Life & Fate mean today

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The Slavic Literature Pod @slaviclitpod.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

Out today! A discussion of Frederick Wiseman's film "The Last Letter," which dramatizes one particular chapter of Vasily Grossman's Life and Fate: the last letter Anna Semionova writes her son, Viktor Shtrum, before she is killed by the Nazis.

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The Slavic Literature Pod @slaviclitpod.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

Listen to the episode to hear a little bit of necessary context from Grossman's life, plus a full reading of Part 1, Chapter 18 of Life and Fate. Listen to it anywhere you get your podcasts! Apple: tinyurl.com/last-letter-... Spotify: tinyurl.com/last-letter-...

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PREP WORK: The Last Letter (2002) by Frederick Wiseman

Podcast Episode · The Slavic Literature Pod · April 3 · 51m

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The Slavic Literature Pod @slaviclitpod.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

Out Today: A little delay on our next Sasha Sokolov episode... But, in the meantime, let's prep for an upcoming episode about Frederick Wiseman's 2002 film "The Last Letter," which explores one of the most affecting chapters from Vasily Grossman's Life and Fate.

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The Slavic Literature Pod @slaviclitpod.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

We're kicking off a double feature about Sasha Sokolov, starting with his first novel, A School for Fools. Dr. José Vergara returns to help break down the nonlinear stories of student so-and-so as he tries to explain his school, his love interest and his small town.

A picture of the author Sasha Sokolov on a green background with the text Sasha Sokolov, A School for Fools, with Dr. Jose Vergara

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The Slavic Literature Pod @slaviclitpod.bsky.social · 07/03/2026

It's been a long time coming...part two of Andrei Platonov's Chevengur, covering chapters 25-43, is out today! As we finally arrive in the town of Chevengur, nearly 250 pages in, we go from picaresque romp to the dirty work of actually building the Soviet state.

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The Slavic Literature Pod @slaviclitpod.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

Chevengur, part 2, coming soon to a theater near you... When I was editing this episode, I realize it felt a little half-baked and didn't want to do Andrei Platonov that disservice. We're going to take another crack at it and bring you something better next Friday.

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The Slavic Literature Pod @slaviclitpod.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

Plus, you may have heard my confusion about Dovzhenko's life in the episode on "Earth." Well, turns out there's a good reason for that: misinformation. We'll dig into that and attempt to get at a fuller understanding of his life in this episode.

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The Slavic Literature Pod @slaviclitpod.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

It's finally here...and it's a real big fish. Oleksandr Dovzhenko's "Zvenihora" (1928) is an ambitious silent film masterpiece, spanning a thousand years of Ukrainian history from Varangian Invasion to new Soviet reality.

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The Slavic Literature Pod @slaviclitpod.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

Find it anywhere you get your podcasts! Apple Podcasts: tinyurl.com/people-immor... Spotify: tinyurl.com/people-immor...

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The People Immortal by Vasily Grossman

Podcast Episode · The Slavic Literature Pod · 09/26/2025 · 1h 18m

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The Slavic Literature Pod @slaviclitpod.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

The next episode on Dovzhenko's "Zvenyhora" is coming! Working my way through a research rabbithole. In the meantime, check out an older episode: Vasily Grossman's The People Immortal. Less mature than his later work, it nonetheless shows his immense commitment to truth.

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The Slavic Literature Pod @slaviclitpod.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

Plus, you'll hear a lot about their unusual translation process--one involving 83 other translators across the world. Listen to it anywhere you get your podcasts! Spotify: tinyurl.com/chekhov-early Apple Podcasts: tinyurl.com/early-chekhov

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Spotify – Web Player

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The Slavic Literature Pod @slaviclitpod.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

Out today! I sat down with Rosamund Bartlett and Elena Michajlowska to talk about their new book: Anton Chekhov, Earliest Stories: Stories, Novellas, Humoresques, 1880-1882. The collection covers Chekhov's earliest published stories, a great insight into his juvenile writing!

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The Slavic Literature Pod @slaviclitpod.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

Happy Friday! A short delay on the way to the cherry orchard, but you'll hear our new episode soon.

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The Slavic Literature Pod @slaviclitpod.bsky.social · 01/01/2026

Watch it on YouTube here: youtu.be/khXaVt0ilFc Or listen anywhere you get your podcasts! Apple Podcasts: tinyurl.com/bdz66bhm Spotify: tinyurl.com/y375n2t7

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Sayat Nova (1969) and five other films I liked this year

YouTube video by The Slavic Literature Pod

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The Slavic Literature Pod @slaviclitpod.bsky.social · 01/01/2026

Happy New Year, everybody! The Slavic Lit Pod has one last gift from 2025: Sayat Nova (1969), directed by Sergei Parajanov. Plus! I watched a lot of films last year, so here are five that I really liked. (It's on YouTube, too, so you can see what I'm talking about)

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The Slavic Literature Pod @slaviclitpod.bsky.social · 16/09/2025

Delicious Hunger takes the opposite perspective, telling the stories of guerilla fighters for the Malaysian Communist Party from the 70's to the 80's. Hai Fan, a former guerilla himself, tells their stories with a deft tenderness for the people and moments between combat.

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The Slavic Literature Pod @slaviclitpod.bsky.social · 16/09/2025

A little late, but out today: The latest For Your Consideration explores Ilya Kaminsky's Deaf Republic and Hai Fan's Delicious Hunger. "THE PEOPLE ARE DEAF," declares Sonya's sign in the face of occupying soldiers, as Deaf Republic explores how the town of Vasenka resists them.

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The Slavic Literature Pod @slaviclitpod.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

Hey, did you catch it? My latest For Your Consideration continues Yevgenia Belorusets' reflections on Ukraine under war in "War Diary," plus a detour into Barcelona to explore a women's life through the Spanish Civil War in Mercè Rodoreda's "The Time of Doves."

A picture of the Ukrainian writer and artist Yevgenia Belorusets with the text "War Diary by Yevgenia Belorusets. Plus, The Time of Doves by Merce Rodoreda."

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The Slavic Literature Pod @slaviclitpod.bsky.social · 08/08/2025

Lucky Breaks, in particular, blurs this line, depicting stories of women's lives and struggles in the Donbas region at war -- prior to Russia's full-scale invasion. Get it anywhere you listen to your podcasts! Apple Podcasts: tinyurl.com/lucky-breaks Spotify: tinyurl.com/lucky-breaks...

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Lucky Breaks by Yevgenia Belorusets & The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien

Podcast Episode · The Slavic Literature Pod · 08/08/2025 · 1h 13m

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The Slavic Literature Pod @slaviclitpod.bsky.social · 08/08/2025

Out today! For your consideration: Lucky Breaks by Yevgenia Belorusets and The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien. Both collections document the stories of people in war -- in Ukraine and in Vietnam -- guiding their readers with a blend of fact and fiction.

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The Slavic Literature Pod @slaviclitpod.bsky.social · 18/07/2025

In one novel, we have two Belarusian children on a folkloric-like journey; in the other, we have a Native American WW2 veteran struggling with PTSD. Both explore how they and their communities adapt--or sometimes fail to adapt. (Photo credit to Jula Cimafiejeva)

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The Slavic Literature Pod @slaviclitpod.bsky.social · 18/07/2025

Out today! For Your Consideration: Alindarka's Children by Alhierd Bacharevič and Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko. Both novels tackle the problems of people native to a land that is now hostile to them, in one way or another.

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