Anzhelina Polonskaya Discusses Censorship and the Russian Pen Centre

Russian poet Anzhelina Polonskaya, a former figure skater who is banned from publishing in Russia but is translated and published in English by Zephyr Press, talks to Sommer Dosch for Index on the topic of censorship. Some insight on the literary situation in Moscow follows:

Index: When did the Russian government start targeting you?

Polonskaya: The persecution began after the completion of “Oratorio-Requiem” Kursk, a score that I worked on with the Australian composer David Chisholm in 2011. It was an unpleasant topic for the president; therefore it was unacceptable within the political environment. Everyone knows me as a liberal writer. I went to every protest in Moscow, and after my family began to receive threats from unknown people I left the country. For some years I lived in Germany and gave many public talks, one being at the Frankfurt Book Fair, and did several interviews for newspapers. I have been invited to Barcelona for the anniversary of the death of Anna Politkovskaya. I have always protested against the Russian regime in my poetry, short stories and essays.

Index: Why was your project with David Chisholm an “unpleasant topic” and why was it viewed as unacceptable within the political environment”? Why did persecution follow after its completion?

Polonskaya: If you know how the crew on the Kursk submarine died, then you know that the Russian government refused to accept all the countries that could save it. It was a military object, and there was something to hide. As a result, the entire crew died an agonising death. Talk about the Kursk submarine in a country where the police regime has been in power for nearly twenty years, and you can receive a criminal case for any manifestation of freedom of speech. I think it is difficult to explain to a person in a free country that, under an authoritarian regime, they can follow you to a repost on the internet. David and I created a very frank score and a film, which became a political act.

Index: How do you continue to have an artistic voice in Russia from outside of the country?

Polonskaya: In Russia, I do not have an artistic voice that is greatly understood. My artistic voice is mainly established in Europe and the United States. I am very grateful to my translators for supporting my artistic voice. Now I am in Russia where I only have my seventy-eight-year-old mother who is ill. In October 2018 while I was in Germany, unknown people broke into my house in Moscow and stole all of my devices with interviews on them, my essay for the Swedish PEN-centre, my texts, my hard copies of interviews, and my protest photos. Nevertheless, I will continue to write for journals outside of Russia.

Today The Russian Centre is in a split stage. The current Pen Centre management group refused to be a part of an International Pen club. They created another literary organization called the Russian Pen. We, the initiative group, are trying to save the oldest Russian Pen Centre from disintegration and ask for the support of the International Pen Club.

Index: When you say that the Russian Pen Centre is in a “split stage”, what do you mean by that? Can you explain this stage a bit more?

Polonskaya: The Russian Pen Centre has been under a big scandal for over two years now...

Read on at Index.