James Plested
s there a poetry of revolution? Can the awakening to politics and revolutionary action of millions of people across a vast continent, the organised chaos of the soviets, the noise and confusion, the raw violence and the inspiration of 1917 in Russia be effectively rendered in a work of literature? Or is the world-historic scope of these event simply beyond words? This talk will examine the poetry and literature that emerged from the Russian revolution of 1917, tracing its development through the subsequent years of civil-war and ultimate Stalinist reaction. Through this account, it will seek an answer to the more general questions of the role of poetry and literature in revolution and the fight for socialism.