Yasha Klots and The Tamizdat Project | Banned Books from the Cold War to the Present

For Banned Books Week, Yasha Klots of the Tamizdat Project joins us to shed light on smuggled literature that defied Soviet censorship and illuminates the enduring power of the printed word.

This event will take place in person and online at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library on the 7th Floor.

Throughout the Soviet century, tamizdat (literally, “published over there,” or abroad) comprised manuscripts rejected, censored, or never submitted for publication at home but smuggled through various channels across the Iron Curtain and printed elsewhere, with or without their authors’ knowledge or consent. Until perestroika, when the curtain began to rust, these books were used as weapons on the cultural fronts of the Cold War. 

In this talk, Yasha Klots will speak about the history of tamizdat as a literary practice and political institution from the Cold War era to the present, when censorship and political repressions in Russia and Belarus have forced an increasing number of authors, publishers, and readers into exile, especially after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. He will also speak about the Tamizdat Project, a public scholarship initiative for the study of banned books from the former USSR and Easter Europe, as well as a small press and a philanthropic organization. 

To join the event in person | Doors will open 30 minutes before the program begins. For free events, we generally overbook to ensure a full house. Priority will be given to those who have registered in advance, but registration does not guarantee admission. All registered seats are released shortly before start time, and seats may become available at that time. A standby line will form 30 minutes before the program.

To view the livestream | Whether you're attending in person or online, you must register with your email address. You will need a device with audio and/or video and an internet/cellular connection to view the livestream.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Yasha Klots (Ph.D., Yale) is Associate Professor of Russian and Comparative Literature at Hunter College and CUNY Graduate Center. His research is focused on book history, Russian and East European émigré literatures and cultures, urbanism and literary representation of cityscapes, multilingualism and translation, and Gulag narratives. He is the author of Joseph Brodsky in Lithuania (St. Petersburg: Perlov Design Center; in Russian), Poets in New York: On City, Language, Diaspora (Moscow: NLO, 2016; in Russian), Tamizdat: Contraband Russian Literature in the Cold War Era (Cornell, 2023; NLO 2024). He is also a co-translator of Tamara Petkevich’s Memoir of a Gulag Actress (Northern Illinois UP, 2010). In 2022, he co-founded Tamizdat Project, a public scholarship initiative and a nonprofit organization for the study of banned books from the Cold War to the present, which is also a small press specializing in books on exile and cultural displacement. 

ACCESSIBILITY NOTES

In-Person

• Assistive listening devices and/or hearing loops are available at the venue.


• ASL interpretation and real-time captioning (CART) are available upon request. Please submit your request via this form or contact SNFL at least two weeks in advance.


• This venue is fully accessible to wheelchairs.

Livestream

• ASL interpretation and real-time captioning (CART) also available (see previous).


• Captions and a transcript will be provided.

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Please submit all press inquiries to Connor Goodwin at least 48 hours before the event: email [email protected]. 

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All programs are subject to change or cancellation. All programs are subject to recording and photography.

The 7 Stories Up Series at SNFL is made possible by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF).