Poetry and Science
Science is as much to do with understanding ourselves as literature is, and vice versa. I suppose what they have to offer each other, in terms of understanding each other and helping us to understand ourselves, is that attention they both give to what is already known and the desire to search beyond that to what isn't known. I think poetry and science both share that, and because of it, are both political in their nature - Mario Petrucci
Poetry and science have a common task – to investigate the subtle and precise mechanisms that regulate world processes. Poetry is not only a way of explaining and understanding the Universe; it conceals within its dense form information that can be understood and deciphered later. In a way, poetry is culture‘s genetic code - Maria Galina
On Saturday 25 April we will be bringing together two exceptional poets, well-known in their respective countries: Mario Petrucci, poet laureate for Radio 3, and Maria Galina, an award winning poet and critic from Moscow. They both have a background in science, which informs their poetry, and imbues it with a primal, elemental force. Both have written poems about the Chernobyl disaster. Petrucci's series 'Heavy Water' has recently been made into an award-winning short documentary film. Joan Bakewell of the New Statesman wrote that it 'leaves us thoughtful and moved'. Maria Galina has also written verses about the tragedy that was undergone in her homeland. They will be discussing the interaction between science and poetry and its relation to the Chernobyl disaster at Waterstones, Piccadilly.
Sasha Dugdale, a prolific literary translator from Russian into English and celebrated poet in her own right, will be reading Maria Galina's poetry in translation and an essay about her verses.
Sasha Dugdale
Sasha Dugdale was born in Sussex. Between 1995 and 2000 she lived and worked in Russia. In 1999 she initiated the Russian theatre New Writing project with the Royal Court, London, and currently works as a translator and consultant at the Royal Court. Four of her translations have been staged. Plasticine by Vassily Sigarev won the Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Playwright. She has had poems published in Oxford Poets 2002 and New Writing 12 (Picador 2003). In 2003 she received an Eric Gregory Award.
Maria Galina
Maria Galina is one of the most interesting authors among those who made their names in the turbulent 1990s. She writes both literary and science fiction (with ten SF books to her credit). She is also a noted poet, a thoughtful critic, and translator of English and American science fiction, in all of which she excels. She is a winner of many important prizes for her prose and poetry and her critical essays.
