Russian Reading Circle - Русский кружок чтения

We are first and last a reading group. We are not a conversation or a political discussion group. We read and translate orally into English Russian Short Stories from the 19th and the 20^th centuries. We read mainly short works by 19^th-century classic authors such as Chekhov, Dostoyevsky, Gogol, Lermontov, Pushkin, Tolstoy and Turgenev. However, we also include 20th-century works by less familiar Soviet and Russian writers such as Ivan Bunin, Konstantin Paustovsky and Yuri Nagibin.

In addition, we read cultural news items from the BBC Russian News website and from websites based in Russia. Difficult grammatical points are revised. We are a self-instructing group but also learn from each other.

In 2026 we are intending to read Pushkin’s “Queen of Spades” (Пиковая Дама) and Bunin’s “Dark Avenues” (Темные Аллеи).

Twice a year we lunch in an East European restaurant.