Daytime Stars : a Poetâ#x80 ; #x99 ; s Memoir of the Revolution, the Siege of Leningrad, and the Thaw

In her beautifully written memoir, the poet Olga Berggolts weaves together episodes from the Russian Revolution and Civil War, which she experienced as a child, the World War II siege of Leningrad, and the post-Stalin Thaw. During the siege, Berggolts became the beloved voice of Radio Leningrad, broadcasting some of her most acclaimed poetry - at once deeply personal and full of faith in the inevitable Soviet victory. After Stalin's death, Berggolts was among the most outspoken critics of Stalinist constraints on literature. She wrote Daytime Stars in the spirit of Thaw-era opposition to the impersonality of Socialist Realism, celebrating the ideals of the Revolution and the heroism of the Soviet people while simultaneously registering doubt and sometimes despair. This translation of Daytime Stars offers a compelling introduction to a unique work of Soviet autobiography and to an author well known in the Soviet Union whose work has rarely been translated into English. For 872 days during World War II, the city of Leningrad endured a crushing blockade at the hands of German forces. Close to one million civilians died, most from starvation. Amid the devastation, Olga Berggolts broadcast her poems on the one remaining radio station, urging listeners not to lose hope. When the siege had begun, the country had already endured decades of revolution, civil war, economic collapse, and Stalin's purges. Berggolts herself survived the deaths of two husbands and both of her children, her own arrest, and a stillborn birth after being beaten under interrogation. Berggolts wrote her memoir Daytime Stars in the spirit of the thaw after Stalin's death. In it, she celebrated the ideals of the revolution and the heroism of the Soviet people while also criticizing censorship of writers and recording her doubts and despair. This English translation by Lisa A. Kirschenbaum makes available a unique autobiographical work by an important author of the Soviet era. In her foreword, Katharine Hodgson comments on experiences of the Terror about which Berggolts was unable or unwilling to write. Contents Illustrations Foreword Acknowledgments Introduction Part I 1. Journey to the Town of My Childhood 1954 2. That Forest Clearing 1939–57 3. The Nevsky Gate Campaign 1958–59 Part II 4. Good Morning, People! June 1960 5. Blockade Bathhouse Notes Contributors Index