The Orbita collective of poets and artists will be performing poetry readings in several cities in the United States.
The group will be touring from 14th until 19th November, promoting “Hit Parade”, the collection of translated poems by Orbita poets recently published in the US. The bilingual book of poetry (poems in Russian paired with translations into English) was published in the end of 2015. Its initiator, editor, and one of the translators is a professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures, Kevin Platt. “Hit Parade: The Orbita Group” was published by the Ugly Duckling Presse.
America will see a more compact version of the "FM Slow Show" performance – poetry readings will be accompanied by sound-scapes. Instead of microphones, the poets will be using megaphones such as those used by tour guides. One or several translators of the poems will be present at each reading. The full list of "Hit Parade" translators: Polina Barskova, Charles Bernstein, Bob Perelman, Julia Bloch, Daniil Cherkassky, Sarah Dowling, Natalia Fedorova, Eugene Ostashevsky, Karina Sotnik, Sasha Spektor, Anton Tenser, Maya Vinokour, Michael Wachtel, Matvei Yankelevich, Kevin M. F. Platt.
The Orbita Group has never before travelled so far – across the ocean – in full attendance. The group member Sergej Timofejev comments on the upcoming trip: “We will be bringing along our texts and stage experiences accumulated in these last 15 years, some clothes, a little bit of Riga Black Balsam and some blackcurrant juice. These will probably come in handy, along with the support of the people – both those who will come to see us perform, and the ones at home rooting for us”.
Picture by Nadezhda Mickevich.
The tour is supported by: the State Culture Capital Foundation, Amherst College, New York University, The University of Pennsylvania.
Scheduled Orbita performances:
-Amherst, Massachusetts: Amherst College Center for Russian Culture, 14th November;
-New York: The Jordan Center, New York University), 15th November;
-Philadelphia: Penn Book Center Bookstore, 17th November,
-Washington: Washington Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, Association for Slavic, East European, & Eurasian Studies Convention, Washington Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, 18th November.
The Orbita Group is a collective of Latvian Russian poets, photographers, musicians and multimedia artists involved in the Latvian culture scene since 1999 with performances and art installations, publishing bilingual literature, poetry collections, photography art books and research literature. The collective not only promotes the work of Latvian Russian poets, but also translates contemporary Latvian poetry into Russian, actively and successively creating ties between Russian and Latvian speaking authors. So far, the Orbita Group has performed in various European countries: Lithuania, Estonia, Germany, Finland, Russia, Croatia, Slovakia, etc.
Orbita has received wide recognition (nominations, awards) in various competitions in Latvia and abroad: the Annual Latvian Literature Award, The Golden Apple Tree prize, Purvītis Award, Sergej Kuryokhin Award in contemporary art, and others.
Orbita members are: Semyon Khanin, Artūrs Punte, Vladimir Svetlov, Sergej Timofejev.
