Valerii Pereleshin: The Life of a Silkworm
© 2015
Olga Bakich’s biography of Valerii Pereleshin (1913–1992) follows the turbulent life and exquisite poetry of one of the most remarkable Russian émigrés of the twentieth century. Born in Irkutsk, Pereleshin lived for thirty years in China and for almost forty years in Brazil. Multilingual, he wrote poetry in Russian and in Portuguese and translated Chinese and Brazilian poetry into Russian and Russian and Chinese poetry into Portuguese. For many years he struggled to accept and express his own identity as a gay man within a frequently homophobic émigré community. His poems addressed his three homelands, his religious struggles, and his loves. In Valerii Pereleshin: The Life of a Silkworm, Bakich delves deep into Pereleshin’s poems and letters to tell the rich life story of this underappreciated writer.
Product Details
- World Rights
- Page Count: 408 pages
- Illustrations: 8
- Dimensions: 6.4in x 1.3in x 9.4in
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Reviews
‘This book offers its reader a mind-blowing adventure: it is the story of the life and writing of a twentieth century Russian poet at once too strange, too radical, and too good to be true.’
Polina Barskova
The Russian review vol 75:02:2016‘The book is impressively researched, with a formidable scholarly apparatus…. Even more remarkable is Bakich’s deft handling of a bewilderingly complex context.’
Timothy Lange
Slavic & East European Journal vol 61:02:2017
“The story of Valerii Pereleshin, ‘the best Russian poet of the Southern Hemisphere,’ makes fascinating reading. Both his biography and his poetry deserve to be brought to the attention of a wider audience.”
Barry Scherr, Mandel Family Professor of Russian, Dartmouth College
“Written in a lucid and balanced way, Valerii Pereleshin strikes the right balance between Pereleshin’s life, poetry, and philosophical views.”
Alexandra Smith, Reader in Russian Studies, University of Edinburgh -
Author Information
Olga Bakich has retired from teaching Russian language and Russian émigré literature at the University of Toronto. -
Table of contents
Brief Outline of Valerii Pereleshin’s Life
Preface
PART ONE: CHINA, 1920–1952
1. Russian Childhood
2. Harbin: On the Way of Becoming a Poet
3. Harbin: The Poet as a Monk
4. Beijing: “Wonderful, Beloved City”
5. Shanghai: Fogs and Chimeras
6. The Long Farewell
PART TWO: BRAZIL, 1953–1992
7. Cidadã marvelhosa
8. Resurrection of a Poet
9. From Mount Nebo
10. The Lefthander
11. New Roads and Great Loss
12. Growing Recognition
13. Last Love, Last Books, Last Years
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Subjects and Courses
