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9/11/2002

From Russia with love

Eldridge Street Project, New York

Russian American Writers read and talk about the immigrant experience at Lower East Side Landmark

Lower East Side, New York . . . The mother land. The new land. The tsoris. The absurdities of the intersections of two worlds and that particular tension between pre-revolutionary Russia, where so many Jewish immigrants hailed, and New York. The romance of Russia, from its religious communities to its socialist revolutionaries, lingers in contemporary imaginings of the Russian-American-Jewish immigrant experience. Who better to describe the rewards and challenges of the émigré experience than writers who are living through it? On Sunday, November 10 at 2 pm, transplanted writer Gary Shteyngart and poets Genya Turovksy and Andrey Gritsman will talk about the Russian American experience of the late 20th century in "From Russia With Love," a reading and discussion program part of the Eldridge Street Project's Garden Cafeteria literary series. The participants will share excerpts from their recent works, with a fresh look at the immigrant experience through the lens of satire and poetry. The writers will present their work and then participate in a question-and-answer session about writing about the immigrant experience, exile and memory.

The event, co-sponsored by the Russian-American Cultural Center (Dr. Regina, Khidekel, Director), will take place at the historic Eldridge Street Synagogue on the Lower East Side, the first great house of worship built by Eastern European Jews in America. The Eldridge Street Project was established in 1986 to restore the landmark building to its original grandeur without destroying the poignant reminders of the immigrant founders' century-long presence and traditions; and to breathe fresh life into the building with cultural and educational events and workshops. Programs at the site awaken multi-cultural audiences to the landmark's aesthetic, historical, and spiritual significance; promote inter-group relations; and underscore the necessity of preserving America's past for future generations.

About the Authors: Gary Shteyngart, author of the bestseller, The Russian Debutante's Handbook, was born in Leningrad, USSR in 1972 and immigrated with his family to Queens, New York, at the age of 7. After spending time in Prague in the early 1990's, Shteyngart earned a degree in Politics at Oberlin College. After graduation, he worked in a series of jobs a as writer fro non-profit organizations, including the real-life Emma Lazarus Immigrant Absorption Society. He is currently writing his second novel and lives in New York City. Andrey Gritsman, poet, essayist and oncologist is a native of Moscow, Russia and now lives in New Jersey. Gritsmsan is the author of three volumes of poetry, No Man's Land in Russian, the bilingual From the Bridge and Double. His work has appeared in many journals, including The International Manhattan Review, the Berkshire Review. Gritsman runs the bilingual poetry series ARAP (Association of Russian American Poets in New York City). Genya Turovsky, poet and translator, is originally from Kiev, Ukraine and currently lives in New York City. Her writing and translations from the Russian have appeared in the Murmur, 6x6, Poets and Poems and Balaklava. Turovsky is the editor of Balaklava, an online journal of contemporary Russian poetry in translation.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2002 AT 2PM

Admission to From Russia With Love Reading: $6 for adults, $4 for students and seniors.

Directions:
The Eldridge Street Project is located at 12 Eldridge Street, east of the Bowery and on the block between Canal and Division Streets. By subways: Shuttle (S) train from West 4th Street to Grand Street or the F train to East Broadway. By bus: #15 to Allen and Canal Street, #9 or #22 to East Broadway and Market.

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