Literary St. Petersburg: The City and the Writers Who Lived There

Much of Russian literature is St. Petersburg literature: set in the city, about the city, or written by writers living there. This unique guide profiles fifteen authors whose works and lives were intimately connected to this magnificent setting. Biographical sketches focus on the city as the writers knew it, a sense of their work, the literary and social circles in which they moved, and the sites associated with them. Travelers can wander through the museum where the teenage Vladimir Nabokov romanced his girlfriend and see the prison where Anna Akhmatova was inspired to write her epic poem about the Great Terror. They can find the statue that comes to life in Pushkin’s poem The Bronze Horseman and visit the square where Crime and Punishment’s murderer/hero kneels on the ground to ask God’s forgiveness. Literary St. Petersburg opens the door to one of the most beautiful cities on earth and a body of literature that is as rich, subtle, and expressive as any in the world.