Voicing the Masters (and Mistresses): Translation with Variations June 21, 2009

Marina Warner, the prominent writer, critic, historian and broadcaster, will address the wide variation in translated versions of Russian texts. Her conversation with Robert Chandler will focus on Andrey Platonov in particular. Chandler has translated and co-translated several of Platonov's novels, including, with Elizabeth Chandler and Olga Meerson, a new edition of the absurdist parable The Foundation Pit, Platonov's most overtly political book, written in direct response to the brutalities of Stalin's collectivisation of Russian agriculture. It is a literary masterpiece which deforms and transforms language in seeking to evoke unspeakable realities. This English translation is the first and only one to be based on the definitive edition published by Pushkin House in Moscow.

All tickets £8 per event, available online or by calling +44 (0)20 7209 1141.

Concessions: £5, for LRB subscribers, Friends of the British Museum, students and OAPs (concessions available from the Bookshop or by phone only).

Supported by:

* The British Museum
* Arts Council England
* The Independent Foreign Fiction Prize

Official Website: http://www.lrbshop.co.uk/product.php?productid=5567