The dissident Russian writer is a visiting scholar at Rochester.
Russian poet, journalist, professor, and literary critic Dmitry Bykov is no stranger to the power of words. His satirical poems and sharp听political commentaries鈥攐ften aimed squarely at Russian President Vladimir Putin鈥攄id not amuse their subject.
鈥淚 think Russian officials hardly know my novels,鈥� says Bykov, who arrived in January as the 鈥檚 Scholar in Exile. 鈥淏ut some lines from Citizen Poet were well-known among Russian elites,鈥� he says of actor Mikhail Efremov鈥檚 performance of his satirical verses. 鈥淭hey used to visit our performances and my lectures, which was fashionable in late 2020.鈥�
The center created the program last year with funding from its own resources as well as from the . The idea behind the program is twofold鈥攖o demonstrate a commitment to global academic freedom and to bring prominent and endangered scholars into the campus community where they can work directly with students.
Despite his many hats, Bykov sees himself as a poet first鈥攊n Russia, a vocation likened to 鈥渁 prophet, a pillar of civic disobedience, the best kind of lover, whomever we鈥檇 like him to be,鈥� in 2016. Known for his wit and charm, he was so popular that people would line up to pay admission to his public lectures on literature.听
Yet, as a radio and television personality and one of Russia鈥檚 most outspoken public intellectuals, Bykov hit a sore spot. Running afoul of the Kremlin is what ultimately drew him out of Russia and to the United States.听
Bykov鈥檚 woes came to a head in April 2019 during a domestic flight to the western Russian city of Ufa. En route to a public lecture, he suddenly fell violently ill, eventually losing consciousness, and slipping into a coma.听Five days later, he awoke in the intensive care unit of a specialized neurological clinic in Moscow with no doubt in his mind that he had been poisoned.
鈥淭hey are typical bureaucrats and feel danger only if you participate in some organized activities,鈥� he says of the Russian government. Back in 2012, Bykov had been a member of the now-defunct Russian Opposition Coordination Council that had tried to plan strategies for opposing Putin鈥檚 regime. Clearly that membership had been deemed organized enough. Subsequently, he was banned from appearing on radio or television, fired from universities and two editorial offices, including the newspaper Kommersant, well known for its liberal, independent views.
The council鈥檚 roster鈥攚hich also included Alexei Navalny, the opposition leader who died in prison in February in what Bykov describes as a murder鈥攕oon became a checklist for Kremlin-directed secret operatives.听
鈥淭he poisoners followed the list systematically,鈥� says Bykov, an admirer of Navalny who calls his role as a regime critic 鈥渜uite modest鈥� in comparison.
Writing frequently about Russian and Soviet historic and contemporary figures and themes, Bykov is a well-known biographer of Russian stalwarts, such as authors Boris Pasternak,听Bulat Okudzhava,听and听Maxim Gorky. In 2005, he wrote How Putin Became President of the USA: New Russian Fairy Tales.听
While his work has garnered a variety of Russian literary prizes, including the National Bestseller Prize, three Big Book awards, and the Strugatsky International Literature Prize, some of the titles alone have placed him directly in the Kremlin鈥檚 crosshairs. In early 2022, right before Russia invaded Ukraine, the Kremlin declared him a foreign agent and many Russian booksellers pulled his works鈥攕ome 90 total, including novels, literary biographies, essays, and poetry collections鈥攐ff their shelves.
Before his move to the United States in 2022, Bykov had held temporary visiting positions at American universities, including at UCLA and Princeton University. In 2022鈥�23, he was a visiting critic at Cornell University鈥檚 Institute for European Studies.听
Bykov is now at Rochester as a through the 2024鈥�25 academic year.听
鈥淗e is a huge figure in Russian culture, and it鈥檚 something of a miracle that he鈥檚 here in Rochester,鈥� says John Givens, a professor of Russian.
This spring, Bykov is teaching courses in the Department of Modern Languages and Cultures, including Hard Labor, Exile, Prison: The Culture of Incarceration in Russia, and Nikolai Gogol and the Creation of Ukrainian Literature.听
鈥淚t鈥檚 not every day that a student can take a class from someone who was poisoned by Vladimir Putin for using his status as a celebrated writer and the public performance of his writings as weapons,鈥� says Givens. 鈥淭his is a powerful message to students鈥攖he ability of art to speak truth to power, and the power of the individual to stand up to tyranny.鈥�
Most recently, Bykov wrote a literary biography about Ukraine鈥檚 president Volodymyr Zelensky, VZ: Portrait Against the Background of the Nation (Freedom Letters, 2023).听
In the fall, he will teach two courses: Russian Folklore: Ballads, Romances, Tales, Proverbs, Anecdotes and Poetics of Horror: Gothic, Thriller, and Suspense Stories. He also plans several public lectures.
Meanwhile, Bykov is certain that one day he鈥檒l return to Russia, ideally splitting his time between the US and his homeland. Putin, he says, won鈥檛 last. 鈥淗e has no ideas for a new Russia.鈥�听
Once Putin is deposed鈥攚hether by his inner circle, rebellion, or military defeat鈥擝ykov predicts brief turmoil, 鈥渇ollowed by a period of peaceful and fruitful development, and psychological recovery.鈥�听
And that, he says, he can鈥檛 wait to be part of.
This story was originally published in the spring 2024 issue of Rochester Review, the magazine of the 暗网吃瓜.
