Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Pushkin's Grandmother' Brings Russian Poetry Back to Life


12 February 2013 | Issue 5066 - By Eradzh Nidoev - The Moscow Times


Andrei Abeltsev preparing for his  performance on the second season of the Babushka Pushkina poetry contest.
Denis Makarov - Andrei Abeltsev preparing for his performance on the second season of the Babushka Pushkina poetry contest.


Unless you have traveled forward in time from the beginning of the 20th century, writing rhymes might not seem like the hippest thing to do. Such an old-fashioned skill probably won’t even get you a date.
But this preconception is changing thanks to a group of young poets who are making poetry modern and breathtaking again.

On Feb. 14, poetry lovers will be able to tune in to the third season of the show “Babushka Pushkina” (Pushkin’s Grandmother) on YouTube.
It’s a contest of poets ages 18 to 25 and is organized like a real television competition.
The contest consists of several rounds. In each round, poets write a verse on a given topic. After each round, three contestants are asked to leave.

One of them can be rescued by a popular vote and another one by the jury. The remaining one is out.
The idea to create “Babushka Pushkina” belongs to Yevgeny Lebedev, director of LeCo Media, which produces the show.
“Our aim is to popularize young poetry,” Lebedev told The Moscow Times. “Most readers do not know anything about modern poets. We want to enhance this audience. Fifty percent of the  people who watch our show were not interested in poetry before.”

Read more: http://www.themoscowtimes.com/arts_n_ideas/article/pushkins-grandmother-brings-russian-poetry-back-to-life/475329.html#ixzz2LMs0ueJO
The Moscow Times 

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