Boris Pasternak, poet, author of Doctor Zhivago, and recipient of the Nobel Prize for literature (1958), is the subject of a conference, "Hostage of Eternity: An International Conference on Pasternak," planned for May 3–7 at Tresidder Union at Stanford University.
In conjunction with the conference, the Hoover Institution Library and Archives are organizing an exhibit on Pasternak's life and work from their extensive collection of original materials by the poet. The Pasternak exhibit will feature original letters, a typescript with corrections of Doctor Zhivago, handmade books of poems, photographs, and many books he inscribed to his friends.
The exhibit will be in the Herbert Hoover Memorial Exhibit Pavilion from May 6 to August 27. The Exhibit Pavilion, located at the Hoover Institution on the Stanford University campus, adjacent to Hoover Tower, is open Tuesday through Saturday, 11 PM through 4 PM. For additional information, please contact the Hoover Institution Archives, 650-723-3563 or www.hoover.org/hila. Group tours are available.
At the May conference, participants from around the world will discuss Pasternak's life and work, as well as recent studies concerning him. "One of the central themes of his poetry as well as his magnum opus, the novel Doctor Zhivago," said Lazar Fleishman, professor of Slavic languages and literature at Stanford University and conference coordinator, "is the destiny of man in revolutionary times."
Among the 50 participants who will make presentations at the conference are Pasternak's son, Evgeny Pasternak, and his wife, Elena, the foremost experts on the poet's literary legacy. The couple recently compiled the largest edition of his works, 11 volumes in all, titled Complete Works (Slovo, 2004). Pasternak's niece Ann Pasternak Slater will also be on hand to discuss Pasternak's translations from Shakespeare.
Other special guests include Andrei Voznesensky, a Russian poet who belonged to Pasternak's closest circle of friends, beginning in adolescence, who will participate in a special an evening of recollections on Pasternak scheduled for Tuesday, May 4, at 4:30 PM. Evgeny Pasternak, Vyacheslav Ivanov, Michel Aucouturier, Vittorio Strada, and the writer and artist Olga Andreyev-Carlisle will also take part in this session, chaired by Stanford professor emeritus Bliss Carnochan.
The conference will be bilingual with the sessions conducted in English and Russian. All events are free and open to the public.
The conference is sponsored by the School of Humanities and Sciences; the Division of Literatures, Cultures and Languages and its workshop on poetry, poetology, and poetics; the Slavic and Comparative Literature Departments; the Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies; the Institute for International Studies; the Stanford Humanities Center; the Hoover Institution; the Galina Leytes Foundation; Mr. and Mrs. Irwin T. Holtzman; and the Russian Foundation for the Humanities.
The Hoover Institution, founded at Stanford University in 1919 by Herbert Hoover, who went on to become the 31st president of the United States, is an interdisciplinary research center for advanced study on domestic public policy and international affairs, with an internationally renowned library and archives.
Working Press: For a complete program, contact conference coordinator Lazar Fleishman, professor of Slavic languages and literature, at 650-725-0005 or the Slavic Department office at 650-723-4438.
