The magnificent seven of literary geniuses
Published: 09 September, 2009, 20:22
Edited: 12 September, 2009, 00:15
Leo Tolstoy
TAGS: Art, Russia, Literature
A new international project, “Garden of geniuses: the magnificent seven,” dedicated to the most renowned writers in the world, will open in Russia in 2010 and later held in seven countries within seven years.
“Within the limits of this project, the seven best known writers in the world will be represented in seven days in seven countries every year at the big festival. Thus, each day will be devoted to one of these authors,” Vladimir Tolstoy, the great-great-grandson of the celebrated novelist and the director of Leo Tolstoy’s memorial estate in Yasnaya Polyana, Tula region, explained.
The founding of this project, aimed to promoting classical literature and the literary heritage to a mass audience, was announced by Vladimir Tolstoy on Wednesday.
Among the magnificent seven will be James Joyce, Johann Goethe, Miguel de Cervantes, Leo Tolstoy, Dante Alighieri, William Shakespeare and a French author whose name will be announced later.
The first festival is planned for 2010 in Yasnaya Polyana.
09.09.2009, 18:56
“Paper soldier” in line for European Film Award“Paper Soldier”, a film by Russian Aleksey German, Jr. has been nominated for an award by the European Film Academy. |
16.09.2009, 16:17
Russia’s best theater productions come to St. PetersburgThe best performances of Russia’s theaters from across the country will be on show in St. Petersburg as the Golden Mask festival brings their productions to town. |
It seems to me a very hard job to choice the seven magnificent. Absolutely I agree about Tolstoj, in my opinion the Homerus of modern literature. But it's a pity, I think, that authors like Dostojevskij or Gogol, or even Checov, don't appear in this list. As for the West, Willy Shakespeare of course, but can we forget Hermann Melville, Walt Whitman, R.L. Stevenson, Charles Dickens, the extraordinary french literature of the Nineteen century and so on? The problem, I mean, is that literature isn't a cake that you can cut and keep the best slice. So all trying to have a classification is an academic exercise, a pure joke, a way to pass one's own time. So, let's play. Regards