The Days of Soviet Literature in 1984 were held in Norilsk for the fifth time. Twelve famous poets and writers from Moscow, Leningrad, Riga, Frunze, Irkutsk, headed by Robert Rozhdestvensky, met with readers and admirers in libraries and cinemas in Norilsk and Talnah, in the music school, and the House of Technology.
Among the guests was the recently deceased front-line writer Yury Bondarev, the author of the Hot Snow, Silence novels filmed by that time and enjoying great success. The wonderful children’s poet Valentin Berestov read his poems, and Lydia Libedinskaya, nee Countess Tolstaya, shared her memories of Ahmatova, Tsvetaeva, Pasternak and other famous writers who were her family environment.
In the most reading city of the Krasnoyarsk region, there many admirers to come to those meetings. Perhaps under the impression of them, the protagonist of the action, poet Robert Rozhdestvensky, wrote:
“…Thank you, city,
For being brought to me by fate!
The enormity of the case,
Vastness of width,
Reliability of tenderness and warmth.
The space of the wind,
The snow space,
Radiance of strength and height.
The permafrost here
Went through the ground.
Here only in people
There is no permafrost…”
A year later, the poet recited these poems at the anniversary Meeting with Norilsk in the Central House of Writers in Moscow.
Text: Varvara Sosnovskaya, Photo: Nornickel Polar Division archive
