The Presidential Library’s poetry readings dedicated to the miracle phenomenon

On April 28, 2023 the Presidential Library hosted poetry readings dedicated to the miracle phenomenon in Russian literature.

A miracle is an amazing and unusual phenomenon that arises from nowhere (“miracles in a sieve”) and it cannot be explained by known physical laws. Expectation and belief in a miracle have always been present in the human mind and manifested in the creation of myths, the creation of fairy tales, legends and songs. It is no coincidence that the proverb arose: “Wonderful miracles - with an awl of heaven, on end of a hair” - a miracle is always unexpected, it amazes, stuns, as it goes beyond ordinary human experience and ideas about the world.

Thinking about a miracle can certainly be found in every culture that forms its own idea of it. How was the presence of a miracle understood in Russian poetry? Alexey Purin, a poet, editor of the poetry department of the Zvezda magazine, told about this at the poetry readings.

Svetlana Mikheeva, a poet, head of the Irkutsk regional office of the Union of Russian Writers, explained what material and ideal miracles were, how they manifested themselves in literature and in life.

Moscow poet and translator German Vlasov spoke at the Presidential Library’s poetry readings. He talked about the phenomenon of a miracle from the point of view of an event that can change not only the fate of an individual, but also the course of history.

It is hardly possible to fully understand the nature of a miracle and to explain it. The poet Boris Poplavsky wrote, “Release the miracle. Don't torment him with understanding". Therefore, poetry readings in the Presidential Library are only an attempt to get closer to the mystery of the miraculous and to remind that poetry, as a manifestation of the rare, exquisite gift of “word-making”, is in itself already a given and lasting miracle, aimed at salvation and to help everyone who asks about the meaning and essence of human existence.

The event is available on the Rutube-channel of the institution.