RUSSIA’s national poet, the creator of one of the world’s most famous and tragic love stories, Aleksandr Pushkin, is the subject of the latest talk by Graham Fawcett at Sladers Yard arts centre, West Bay, on Thursday 9th February at 7.30pm.
Pushkin is revered in the West via the Russian composer Tchaikovsky as the creator of Eugene Onegin, one of the great love stories of all time. He also wrote the story that became Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades, and provided the creative inspiration of other operas and plays.
In his talk Graham Fawcett will describe Pushkin’s dramatic life – one in which passionate love, a beautiful wife and outspoken political views brought trouble and retribution worthy of his own writings, including exile and a duel.
Fawcett will also explore the extraordinary quality of Pushkin’s poetry and the range of works less well-known (in the West) but arguably every bit as brilliant, innovative and transcendent.