2007 Stan and Helen Vine Canadian Jewish
Book Award for Poetry
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Surviving
the Censor
The Unspoken Words Of Osip Mandelstam
Author: Rafi Aaron
On May 13, 1934,
Osip Mandelstam, one of the foremost Russian poet of the twentieth
century, was arrested for creating and reciting a poem attacking
Stalin. What made his act so noteworthy was that criticizing
the regime at this time was simply unheard of. Artists either
ceased to create or became state controlled puppets. The consequences
for speaking out against a totalitarian regime would be four
and a half years of persecution. Surviving
the Censor-The Unspoken Words of Osip Mandelstam allows
the reader to experience life through the eyes of Mandelstam
and his wife, Nadezhda. As the events unfold they are also
recorded by an anonymous prisoner from Stalin’s camps
and a researcher who is delving into the life of Osip Mandelstam.
John Barton, the editor of the Malahat
Review noted that Rafi Aaron’s prose poems “…are
powerful, evocatively imagined works, rich in detail and intellectual
resonance.” They are filled with lyricism and leaping
imagery that go beyond the facts to convey the dark spirit
of the times and illuminate those areas where little or no
information exists.
Eight years ago Rafi Aaron embarked on a literary
pilgrimage following the life and work of Osip Mandelstam.
In October 2004 that journey took him to St. Petersburg Russia,
where he delivered the Alexander Mackenzie Memorial Lecture.
For his work in this book Aaron received a ‘Works
In Progress’ grant and two Writer’s Reserve grants
from the Ontario Arts Council, a Canada Council grant, a scholarship
to the Banff Centre for the Arts, and was a visiting writer
at the Artist House in Herzeliya, Israel.
Read the book review by
Ronald Charles Epstein
Prairie
Fire Magazine: Review of Books
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