I have been in Rome bathed in light

On Thursday, May 22 at 6:30 p.m., Casa Russa in Rome will bring together scholars and fans of Iosif Brodsky’s work in a literary-musical salon to mark the birthday of one of the 20th century’s most brilliant poets. The event will be titled “I Was in Rome Flooded with Light” and will be held on the occasion of the poet’s 85th birthday, which would have been May 24.

On the evening’s program: a video message from the House-museum “One and a Half Rooms” in St. Petersburg, a talk by translator and University of Florence lecturer Irina Dvizova, “Roman Elegies” and other works from the Roman period performed by actor Pavel Zelinsky, director Marco Belocchi and more. The poet’s favorite romances will be performed by soprano Maria Smirnova and pianist Pietro Delle Chiaie.

Iosif Brodsky was a Nobel Prize-winning poet, playwright, translator, teacher. He was born in 1940 in Leningrad into a family of a military photographer. The poet’s work and worldview were strongly influenced by Anna Achmatova, Anatoly Naiman, Vladimir Uflyand, Bulat Okudzhava and Sergei Dovlatov. A special role in Brodsky’s poetry was played by the Russian language. As the Soviet poet Bella Achmadulina said, “He can, so to speak, produce the Russian language within himself and succeeds perfectly… He himself becomes a fertile force. As if he himself were a garden and a gardener.”

Brodsky loved Italy; he came to Rome and Venice every year for over 20 years. Venice reminded Brodsky of his hometown of St. Petersburg. He dedicated many poems to both Rome and Venice. Iosif Brodsky left an immense legacy that continues to inspire new generations of readers and thinkers.