Опубликовано в журнале Дружба Народов, номер 6, 2005
EFIM BERSHIN. Masks of the Spirit.
Being a well-known Russian poet E. Bershin has written a fascinating prose the genre of which the author himself defines as “a kind of a novel, gentlemen”. It actually is difficult to classify the genre but the reader will undoubtedly get pleasure of this witty, sparkling, subtle, exquisite prose reach with shades of meaning.
IRINA MAMAEVA is a participant of the 4-th Forum of young Russian writers. She graduated from the agricultural department of the Petrozavodsk (Karelia) university, then studied in Moscow Literary institute, worked at a farm, at a factory. “Lenka’s Wedding”, her first work in prose, was awarded with the prize of the “Open Russia” society.
VLADIMIR KURNOSENKO. Mittens.
This short story by one of the most original Russian authors (lives in Pskov) seems to be simple in its plot but it goes down or rather rises to existential heights of mind and soul.
The poems by NICKOLAY PANCHENKO overwhelm by brutal truth and perturbation of a young soldier who was impetuously drawn into the bloody routine of the war.
ERBOL JUMAGULOV is a young Kazakh poet demonstrating extraordinary interesting poetical and versificatory discoveries and introducing an original fresh note into poetical instrumentation.
KIM BAKSHI’s “Loneliness of a Sage” is a story full of lyricism and bitterness about an Armenian scientist, an astronomer of the world significance which the author of the essay estimates as follows: “After the sharing of the USSR’s propriety some of the new states got oil, natural gas, some — uranium, some — immense black soils, some — sea expanses… Stony Armenia got Grigor Gurzadyan”. But as follows from the text the country failed to do with its treasure.