Lolotta and other Parisian stories – a performance reading of a book’s fragment and a literary premiere.
Lolotta and other Parisian stories is the Russian writer Anna Matveeva’s first book translated into Polish. Matveeva is a finalist of the prestigious Russian Bolshaya Kniga and Nacyonaln'yy Bestseller awards. On February 25th, the author came to Poznań to meet with the readers. What is more, the participants could listen to a fragment of the book performed by actors from the New Theatre in Poznań, who made the text come alive during the performance reading specially for the meeting participants!
It is said that everyone has their own Paris. Whether it's the capital of France, a new housing estate or a Russian village named so by Cossacks in the 17th century. Matveeva's Paris transcends the protagonists, is an (un)reachable goal, trauma, escape, relief, home or exile for them. Paris changes them while simultaneously becoming the hero of history, its spiritus movens. The book also features another city, Yekaterinburg. A city on the border of Europe and Asia, sometimes rough, chaotic and dangerous, but capable of bringing peace. Matveeva creates universal and warm stories that sometimes laugh and sometimes leave bitterness in your mouth. She is fluent with words, what allows you to immerse yourself in her world. She makes it easy to get involved in the heroes’ stories and difficult to part with them. However, there is no unnecessary pathos or cheap sentimentalism here. Just a man with all his weaknesses, in which we can see ourselves.
After the actors’ reading performance there was a possibility to meet with the author and translators of short stories, who are also of great importance to us! For the book that we are handing over to you is unique. It is the result of a project of the Centre for Polish-Russian Dialogue and Understanding - "Polish-Russian Translation School. Word to word", intended for young translators who worked for ten months under the supervision of outstanding specialists on translating nine short stories by Anna Matveeva. During the classes, they became familiar with the complete path of translator's work and the secrets of the publishing process. By attending lectures on the art of translation and literature they were offered the opportunity to deepen their knowledge and improve their skills.
The training of a new generation of conscious and competent translators is extremely important and is part of the Centre's mission. In today's circumstances, Polish-Russian dialogue seems to be possible (and extremely necessary) in the field of culture. However, it is difficult to communicate and understand each other without knowing the language and culture of your neighbour. In this situation, the translator becomes a key actor for understanding contemporary Russia.
During the meeting we discussed the book, but also the process of its translation. What was the translation process like, what was the most difficult, what problems did the translators have to deal with? The discussion was broadened to cover the role of the translator in general. After all, nowadays a translator often becomes an ambassador of the author and even a propagator of a given culture. We also talked about cooperation between authors and translators from two perspectives.
BIOGRAMS
Anna Matveeva – "I didn't have much choice, already as a child I knew I would become a writer," says Anna Matwiejewa. She was born in 1972. She lives in Yekaterinburg, which is very often the background or the protagonist of her novels. She started writing and publishing in the 1990s. To this day, she has published 17 novels and collections of short stories, which are very popular in Russia. She was nominated for prestigious Russian awards such as Bolshaya Kniga and Natsional'nyy Bestseller. Critics call her work “Ural magical realism”. Matveeva's prose has been translated into Italian, French, Czech, Chinese and Finnish. Lolotta and other Parisian stories is the author's first book published in Polish.
Polina Kozarenko – a graduate of Polish Philology at the Lomonosov Moscow State University and post-graduate studies in the field of teaching Russian as a foreign language. Linguist, editor of the Russian section of the www.culture.pl portal, translator of Polish literature into Russian. Her translation works include Mariusz Szczygieł's Gottland, Andrzej Stasiuk's essays and Julia Holewińska's Ciała obce [Foreign bodies]. Between 2006 and 2016, she worked at the Polish Institute in Moscow, where she was responsible for literary, publication and educational projects. Lecturer at the State Pedagogical University in Nizhny Novgorod, where she lectures on the dialogue between cultures in teaching Russian as a foreign language and translation. Co-founder of a school for beginner translators of Russian - Word to word at the Centre for Polish-Russian Dialogue and Understanding.
Krzysztof Tyczko – PhD in Russian literature studies, entrepreneur, teacher of Polish as a foreign language and Russian language teacher, translator and interpreter of Russian language. He likes to driving a car, walking and cooking.
Patryk Zielonka – born in 2000. Student of a high-school in Lublin, finalist of the Russian Language Olympics, beginner translator and a poet. He is committed to co-creating the world of literature. Privately a vinyl collector.
Michał Pabian – playwright, linguist. He is affiliated with the New Theatre in Poznań where he runs the Czytnik [Reader] project. He is interested in literary collage and strategies of 'speaking' in dramatic stage forms. So far he has cooperated with Marcin Liber, Wojtek Klemm, Piotr Ratajczak, Cezi Studniak, Marcin Wierzchowski, Natalia Korczakowska.