Vera Pavlova

Vera Pavlova (1963) is a Russian poet and it has been said that 21st century Russian poetry begins with her. Vladimir Sorokin has said Pavlova is unlike anyone else and since she has already become part of the story of Russian poetry, she no longer belongs to herself. Pavlova studied the history of music, researched the music of Shostakovich, sang in a church choir and has written five opera librettos. She published her first book of poems Небесное животное in 1997. Her fourth collection of poems Четвертый сон received several accolades, including the Apollon Grigoriev Prize. Pavlova writes in a candid, nuanced way about love, childhood and motherhood – she has said that she wrote her first poem as a message that she sent home from the maternity ward after giving birth to her first daughter, to somehow put her intense happiness into words. Pavlova’s style is often rich in images and strongly sensual, her experiences of loneliness and intimacy seem almost tangible and her use of language has moved one critic to say it is as if she is licking the world with her tongue. Pavlova is also a renowned interpreter of poetry – she has presented, among others, the works of Anna Akhmatova, Marina Tsvetaeva, Boris Pasternak, Sergei Yesenin, Alexander Blok and Ossip Mandelstam, in audio books. 

Performs at

Date Event Name Location
Saturday, 27 May at 19:00 Poetry guests: Arvis Viguls, Bernhard Widder, Kristjan Haljak, Veronika Kivisilla, Vera Pavlova Wabadus
Thursday, 25 May at 19:00 Vera Pavlova Russian Theatre

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