Dmitry Bykov in Zurich. New World 30 May 2024

New Light is a poetry concert with talks by poet, writer and journalist Dmitry Bykov.

It is possible, of course, to self-educate, to read, to listen to podcasts, but the dream, not even formulated into words, was this: to come and listen to a living person. Especially if that person is Bykov.

Who else knows how not only not to disappoint, but also not to repeat himself? Every now and then he presents something new, more and more powerful - although each time it seems that it is impossible to be more powerful. Today, when all poles have shifted in the world, a live meeting with a poet, writer and thinker of this level becomes a real event.

"I am a poet after all and so I will be happy to read poems for you. The poems written in the States over the last year are not fully understood by myself. They are really a new light that hit me rather unexpectedly. They are much simpler than the previous ones, and probably freer. And in spite of everything, they are happier, because I have finally stopped being ashamed of myself," says Dmitry Bykov. But of course there will be more than just poetry at the evening in Vienna. At every Bykov concert, the second section begins with answers to a pile of notes. This is the part of the evening that fans will never miss. It is a separate joy. At the very beginning of the evening Dmitry Lvovich says: "I am waiting for the maximum number of notes from you - with requests, caustic questions and comments, reflections! And not a single note remains unanswered".

Literature helps us in times when there are no prospects, when everything is unusually sharpened: love, involvement in the big story, and, perhaps, some doom. Let's talk about what is happening to us and try to see that new light for a new understanding of life.

Dmitry Bykov is a poet, writer, journalist, lecturer, film critic, screenwriter, long-time lecturer of the project "Direct Speech", host of the author's program "One", co-author of the project "Citizen Poet". Winner of numerous literary awards, teacher of literature. Visiting Professor at Princeton University. Author of dozens of books, collections of poems and articles.

Approximate duration: 1 hour 30 minutes