Alla Nesterova’s myth works defy simplistic description, therefore it’s best to describe them with these lines from one of her own poems in “My Mythology” cycle:
“…there is an armchair and the soul is carried over
to where all steps fade in the captive town
and it is followed by the water of the others
that alters all their features from without” *
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*Translated from Russian by Dmitri Manin
Alla Nesterova’s works in EWLF are reprinted, with the artist’s permission, from Alla Nesterova. Greek Mythology (Алла Нестерова. Греческая мифология).
Alla Nesterova was born in Orenburg. She studied violin at the college of the Moscow State Conservatory and graduated from the Yekaterinburg State Conservatory. She worked on her Greek mythology graphics for 20 years. She now has 140 sheets of cardboard with 140 different mythological themes. Her collections of poems and books with her graphics were published in Berlin.
This excellent anthology, compiled and edited by Julia Nemirovskaya, showcases poems by Russian (and Russian-speaking) poets who express their absolute rejection of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
“Nina Kossman is equally at home in all genres of short prose: diary entries, mystical novellas, letters, autobiographical notes, and psychological sketches. She has good taste, a sober view of herself and others, and an innate gift for holding the reader’s attention.”
— Dmitry Bykov
This collection focuses on the war between Russia and Ukraine as seen by Russophone poets from all over the world.
Launched in 2012, “Four Centuries” is an international electronic magazine of Russian poetry in translation.
