Writers Snub Putin Ahead of Event
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The First Russian Literary Meeting, a meeting of Russian
writers and literati organized by the descendants of literary greats like
Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, would seem to be an easy opportunity for Russia to show
off its significant literary heritage.
However, the
announcement on Nov. 20 that President Vladimir Putin would attend the meeting
on Nov. 21 has resulted in criticism and reluctance from many writers, with
novelist Boris Akunin and writer Dmitry Bykov among those who declined to
attend.
“I will gladly talk
with Putin on the theme of literature and reading, as soon as all of the
‘political’ prisoners have been released,” Akunin wrote on Facebook on Nov. 21,
saying that as long as there were such political prisoners, he could “not even
remain in the same room” as Putin.
As examples of
political prisoners, Akunin cited Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former owner of
Yukos; Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina of Pussy Riot; and those
arrested as part of the Bolotnaya Ploshchad protests.
Eduard Limonov, a
writer and former leader of the now-banned National Bolshevik Party, also
criticized Putin’s presence, saying that he did not wish to use his own name
“to enhance the credibility and weight of higher public officials,” Gazeta.ru
reported.
Bykov explained his
absence by saying he had a previously planned meeting in St. Petersburg, yet also expressed skepticism
about the motives behind the meeting.
The Russian Literary
Meeting was announced earlier this year as “a far-reaching gathering of the
defenders of literacy,” Izvestia reported. While the meeting was organized
through the Culture Ministry, the descendants of famous Russian authors were
given prominent places among the organizers.
“All told, seven
people took part [in the organization]. Their last names were Pushkin,
Lermontov, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Pasternak, Sholokhov, and Solzhenitsyn,” said
Vladimir Tolstoy, cultural adviser to the president. “It seemed to us, that
from the names of our great ancestors we could raise pressing issues connected
with literature.”
Despite the
illustrious pedigree of the organizers, the concept of the government-sponsored
literary gathering raised some questions from the beginning. Many prominent
Russian writers are also prominent critics of the regime, though efforts were
made to include even dissidents such as Dmitry Bykov and Boris Akunin, both of
whom have previously clashed with Putin’s administration.
Additionally, no
agenda for the meeting was announced, leaving it unclear what the writers would
actually discuss or if the whole event was simply a photo op. Bykov commented
on this suspicion, saying: “If this is an initiative that aims to support those
kinds of literature that may die in the marketplace, that is commendable. If
what we see is just an attempt to put literature in the service of the state,
it is simply futile,” Gazeta.ru reported.