Are the Tsarnaevs “ours” or not, and exactly how responsible should Russia feel for producing them or their brand of violence? “Forgive us, Americans, for having fostered here and sent to you these evident terrorists,” wrote Vladimir Varfolomeev, of the radio station Echo of Moscow, as soon as the news broke. This sentiment is not about the Tsarnaevs at all, who, after all, moved to the U.S. in early childhood. It’s about Chechnya.

The Birch’s annual publication is currently in production!

The issue will contain the Birch’s signature mix of literary criticism, politics, creative writing and translations, all submitted from undergraduate students across the country, and all relating to things Eastern European.

While we wait for the issue’s release, here’s a piece of creative writing. “Resurrecting Pushkin” speaks, I think, for itself.

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The Birch’s annual issue will be coming out any day now!

Each year, the Birch publishes a journal issue, with articles covering current events, literary criticism, creative writing and translation, all relating to Slavic and Eastern European studies.

As we all wait with bated breath for this year’s issue, here’s a small appetizer: a submission from Dylan Hillerbrand, entitled “Just Not Made for This World”. The essay discusses the fates of characters in Anna Karenina and the perhaps deterministic nature of Tolstoy’s philosophy.

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The Birch’s 2012-13 issue will be off to the printers this weekend! 

Each year, the Birch publishes a journal containing work from undergraduates across the country, including work on politics, creative writing, literary criticism, photography, cultural essays, and translation, all relating to Slavic and Eastern European studies. 

You’ll be able to catch a copy of the journal on our website, and hard copies will also be available at Eastern European departments in colleges across the country. 

As a taste of what’s to come, here’s a submission from Peter Marzalik, “Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina: Living in Oblivion.” The essay examines Tolstoy’s use of the word “oblivion” in Anna Karenina, examining the word’s influence on various characters, and its implications for Tolstoy’s own philosophy. 

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The Birch is working away at its new upcoming issue! 

Each year, the Birch publishes a journal issue containing work from undergraduates across the country, including work on politics, creative writing, literary criticism, photography, cultural essays, and translation, all relating to Slavic and Eastern European studies. 

Once the journal is released, you will be able to find it on our website, but, in the meantime, here’s a submission from Charles Tian, a student at the University of Chicago. His piece considers the Revolutions of 1989 in Soviet satellite states, discussing why these revolutions were so surprising to political scientists at the time.

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The Birch is currently working on its annual publication, to be released later this Spring. 

The journal, the first undergraduate journal for Slavic and Eastern European cultures, covers literary criticism, politics, creative writing, photography, and translations. 

In preparation of the upcoming release, here is a creative writing submission from Ekaterina Petrikevich of several poems. 

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The Birch’s annual publication is currently in production!

The magazine will be released later this spring, containing a collection of literary criticism, politics, creative writing and translations, all submitted from undergraduate students across the country, and all relating to things Eastern European. 

As a small preview of the upcoming journal, here’s an article submitted from Eliza Desind, a senior at Rutgers University. Her piece, entitled “Friends and Allies?”, examines the friendship and subsequent enmity between Ivan Ivanovich and Ivan Nikiforovich in Gogol’s short story on the pair. She explores the Ivans’ relationship in conjunction to the nineteenth-century political tensions of Russia and Ukraine. 

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Van Cliburn, winner of the first International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1958, died on Wednesday. 

Time Magazine called him “The Texan Who Conquered Russia.” Cliburn, however, preferred to say that the Russians conquered his heart. (He was well-known for his politeness.) 

Here he is performing Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1, with Kirill Kondrashin conducting; Moscow, 1962. 

tiny-librarian:

On February 21st, 1613 Michael I was unanimously elected Tsar of Russia by a national assembly. He was the first Russian Tsar of the House of Romanov, which would rule over Russia for over 300 years.

Ya Romanovs! You go, Romanovs!!

(via historyofromanovs)