Kirjahaku

" A] testament to a great spirit, a woman who lived in terrifying proximity to one of the greatest writers of all time, and who understood exactly the high price she would have to pay for this privilege." --Jay Parini, author of The Last Station Translated by Cathy Porter and with an introduction by Nobel Laureate Doris Lessing, The Diaries of Sofia Tolstoy chronicles in extraordinary detail the diarist's remarkable marriage to the legendary man of letters, Count Leo Tolstoy, author of War and Peace and Anna Karenina. Set against the backdrop of Russia's turbulent history at the turn of the 20th century, The Diaries of Sofia Tolstoy offers a fascinating look at a remarkable era, a complicated artist, and the extraordinary woman who stood at his side.

Alexandra Kollontai was a key leader of the Russian Socialist movement, the only woman in the early Soviet government, and one of the most famous women in Russian history. She worked tirelessly all her life, as a speaker, writer, and organizer for women's emancipation. This compelling biography recounts her life for an emerging generation of fighters for women's liberation.

"She burst across the revolutionary sky like a blazing meteor, dazzling all in her path," Trotsky wrote. For the poet Boris Pasternak, she was Lara, the heroine of his novel Doctor Zhivago. Commissar, revolutionary fighter, espionage agent, journalist, Larisa Reisner (1895–1926) was a model for the 'new woman' of the Russian Revolution, and one of its most popular and brilliant writers, whose works were published in mass editions and read by millions. In this sweeping biography, Cathy Porter sets her life against the backdrop of the world-shaking events of 1917. Drawing on material recently released from the Soviet archives, Porter tells Reisner's story through the memories of those close to her, her own voluminous writings, and her six books—published for the first time together with this biography.

Reading Cathy Porter's new chapbook, The Dash Between Us, brings to mind two antecedents in particular: e.e.cummings "littlehowtown" and Paul Simon's, "Our Little Town." Interpersonal relationships are defined by the spaces between people, dead end jobs lead to graveyard shifts where clerks can look forward to armed robbery for pitiful amounts of money; employment at zero opportunity waitressing jobs at no account bars and restaurants; streets filled with rootless PTSD veterans who disappear at dusk, and weekends spent at karaoke, singing along while drunk to favorite songs over and over again. Sound familiar? It should.-Alan Catlin, editor Misfit MagazineBookended by poems about Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, the spare, brutal poems in Cathy Porter's powerful collection speak eloquently of dwindling hopes and time slipping ineluctably away. And yet, she insists, in the words of Dylan Thomas, "Rage, rage against the dying of the light." These poems demand reading over and over again.-Charles Rammelkamp, author of Ugler Lee and Mortal CoilThe poems in this collection touch upon inequities, indignities, and difficult times in the lives of everyday people. We are witness to the many versions of pain visited upon the unlucky as Porter shares hard truths within tight, precise, succinctly crafted stories. "Our world cries hard..." she writes in a poem entitled "Inclusion," a stunning evocation of what it means to be accepted in a time and place of sharp edges and exclusion. This is her strongest collection to date, offering examples of social injustice, bad luck; the workers who manage to endure despite unfairness, ill health, and economic oppression.-Jennifer Lagier, author of Covid Dissonance and Meditations on Seascapes and Cypress

Reading Cathy Porter's new chapbook, The Dash Between Us, brings to mind two antecedents in particular: e.e.cummings "littlehowtown" and Paul Simon's, "Our Little Town." Interpersonal relationships are defined by the spaces between people, dead end jobs lead to graveyard shifts where clerks can look forward to armed robbery for pitiful amounts of money; employment at zero opportunity waitressing jobs at no account bars and restaurants; streets filled with rootless PTSD veterans who disappear at dusk, and weekends spent at karaoke, singing along while drunk to favorite songs over and over again. Sound familiar? It should.-Alan Catlin, editor Misfit MagazineBookended by poems about Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, the spare, brutal poems in Cathy Porter's powerful collection speak eloquently of dwindling hopes and time slipping ineluctably away. And yet, she insists, in the words of Dylan Thomas, "Rage, rage against the dying of the light." These poems demand reading over and over again.-Charles Rammelkamp, author of Ugler Lee and Mortal CoilThe poems in this collection touch upon inequities, indignities, and difficult times in the lives of everyday people. We are witness to the many versions of pain visited upon the unlucky as Porter shares hard truths within tight, precise, succinctly crafted stories. "Our world cries hard..." she writes in a poem entitled "Inclusion," a stunning evocation of what it means to be accepted in a time and place of sharp edges and exclusion. This is her strongest collection to date, offering examples of social injustice, bad luck; the workers who manage to endure despite unfairness, ill health, and economic oppression.-Jennifer Lagier, author of Covid Dissonance and Meditations on Seascapes and Cypress

‘She burst across the revolutionary sky like a blazing meteor, dazzling all in her path,’ Trotsky wrote. For the poet Boris Pasternak, she was Lara, the heroine of his novel Doctor Zhivago. Commissar, revolutionary fighter, espionage agent, journalist, Larisa Reisner (1895–1926) was a model for the ‘new woman’ of the Russian Revolution, and one of its most popular and brilliant writers, whose works were published in mass editions and read by millions. Her life is set against the world-shaking events of 1917, and draws on material recently released from the Soviet archives to tell her story through the memories of those close to her, her own voluminous writings, and her six books, published for the first time together by Brill with this biography. This biography is accompanied by Brill’s publication of Cathy Porter and Richard Chappell’s Writings of Larisa Reisner, published as volume 302 in the Historical Materialism book series.