Pasternak Readings will take place in Moscow on February 13 and 14.
Last year, we had problems finding a conference room. The Literary Institute finally offered its hall, and it became the stage for Lydia Chukovskaya's first public appearance. Judging by the crowds outside, the potential audience of Readings '88 was far greater than the available space.
This year, the Readings will be held in the Big Hall of the Central Writers' Club, the very place where the great poet was condemned and humiliated. This time the speeches (of which more than 60 have already been submitted) will be different. Among the speakers will be Veniamin Kaverin, Sergei Averintsev, Yuri Karyakin, Naum Korzhavin and Michel Aucouturier of the Sorbonne. The American feature film "Doctor Zhivago" will be shown publicly here for the first time.
Invitations to the memorial function on February 13 have been issued to writers, film and stage directors, and composers, such as Alfred Shnitke, Yuri Lyubimov, Mikael Tariverdiyev and Alexander Gradsky. The latter will perform his new songs based on Pasternak's poetry.
The Readings will usher in Pasternak's centenary year which will climax in the December Evenings at the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts. Commemorating the poet will be Svyatoslav Rikhter, Maya Plisetskaya, Rodion Shchedrin, Alla Demidova, Vladimir Spivakov, many poets and young rock stars.
Andrei VOZNESENSKY
From the Editors: The Readings will be chaired by the abovesigned chairman of the organizing committee.
