Traditionally, the Platonov Festival pays special attention to the outstanding 20th-century writer, in whose honor it is named. Every year researchers of Andrei Platonov’s work gather in Voronezh for this occasion. For several years now, the Platonov Festival has been inviting scientists from the Gorky Institute of World Literature to visit our city. This year, the festival hosted two open meetings:
1) The scientific results of the anniversary Platonov Year.
The event included a meeting of Voronezh and Moscow researchers of Andrei Platonov’s work, dedicated to the memory of Tamara Nikonova, Professor at VSU and a member of the editorial board of the first scientific collection of Andrei Platonov’s works (IMLI). The event included a presentation of scientific journals from VSU and IMLI dedicated to Platonov’s work;
2) Inspired People by Andrei Platonov during the years of war and peace.
The event was held to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War. Both meetings were attended by Natalia Kornienko, literary critic, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, head of the Platonov Group at the Gorky Institute of World Literature and winner of the 2024 Platonov Award.
During the meeting, we asked Natalia a few questions:
— How do you evaluate the work of the Platonov Group at the XIV Platonov Arts Festival?
— During the festival, we participate in all literary events, meet with different researchers of Platonov’s works, make presentations of volumes from his Collected Works and related publications and of course we spend time in your wonderful archives. Currently, we have started working on the third volume of the A. Platonov Archive, which will focus on his industrial and scientific-technical legacy. This is a significant part of his heritage that is known to us only in fragments — or not known at all.
— Are there really any other ‘blank spots’ in the life and work of Andrei Platonov?
— Of course, there are! The scope of these areas of Platonov’s activity (industrial and scientific-technical) is large and requires special attention. Any note by Platonov, any sheet containing his signature, calculations, tables or drawings must be added to the writer’s bibliography, commented on and published. This is the area of work that we are currently engaged in, conducting a comprehensive survey of various fonds at the archives. I have been working on this project for a long time and the Platonov group at the Institute of World Literature has been involved in this research for two years now.
— What publication are you currently working on?
— What we are trying to do with the Collected Works includes the editorial preparation of the 1st and 2nd books of Volume VI (which we plan to publish next year; the 3rd book has already been published and we presented it in Voronezh in 2023), as well as the preparation of texts and comments for Volume v. This year we plan (or rather in addition to our existing plans) to prepare the 10th book of The Land of Philosophers for publication. We also have plans for the 3rd book of The Archive of A. Platonov, which I mentioned earlier. All these areas are interconnected. Platonov’s great war prose (this will be Volume VIII) is still awaiting its scientific description and presentation once we have completed the publication of these volumes, which cover Platonov’s work from the 1930s until the beginning of the Great Patriotic War (prose, drama, screenplays and articles).
— Why is it important to explore Platonov’s texts now?
— It is a good way to understand ourselves and the present day. Platonov is a very contemporary writer and all of his works look really relevant to the present day. Read them, and I assure you that he will not deceive you in his narrative about the history of our homeland, about the joys and sufferings of the 20th-century man, the ‘hidden man.’ Platonov’s war stories (which are considered examples of Russian spiritual prose) should be presented every day on TV channels in the year of the 80th anniversary of victory: The Defense of Semidvorye, There Is No Death, Inspired People, Mourning the Dead, The Ivanov Family, The Return, and Aphrodite. These texts are beyond comprehension in terms of their depth, tragedy and lyricism! And just think about the first war story, God’s Tree, written in the end of 1941… It’s a poignant and simultaneously quiet story, a parable about how a simple Russian man goes to war to win… It’s remarkable that there exists the Platonov Festival where Platonov’s words are heard in performances, paintings and music. This year the traditional literary readings were focused on the story Inspired People, written in 1942. The first titles of the story were ‘Requiem’ (manuscript) and ‘Eternal Glory’ (authorized typewritten version).
The Platonov Festival would like to thank Natalia Kornienko and the entire Platonov Group for their active participation in the forum and their extensive research work!