Authors

Discussion

Elena Mikhailik (born 1970; emigrated to Australia in 1993) has published four books of poetry in Russian and many individual poems, as well as scholarly articles and a 2018 book on Varlam Shalamov, Незаконная комета. Варлам Шаламов: опыт медленного чтения. This paper will examine the contrasting elements in her work: humor that may be read through the traditions of Odesa humor and the many kinds of historical, literary, religious and scientific reference that often, as befits a specialist in Shalamov, constitute a tragic layer that extends through her work. Examples include the poems entitled "Shalamov 1918" (which hints at the killing of the chemistry teacher who would have taught Shalamov things he needed to win a life-saving job in the camps) and "Zmei Gorynych" (in which said folkloric dragon comes to visit the famous cookbook author Elena Molokhovets). The paper’s author is engaged in translating Mikhailik’s poetry, which necessitates considerable research to uncover the subtexts of these and other references.