Welcome to The Nabokovian!

Welcome to the official site of the International Vladimir Nabokov Society (IVNS). You can access most of the site as you wish, but to add to or edit material wiki-style, as we would love you to do, you will have to register to the site by following the protocol spelled out below.

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New Feature: Classics from The Nabokovian

Introducing a new feature: read classic materials from the archives of the print version of The Nabokovian. Selected by the site's editors, contents will be featured free of charge and will vary quarterly. Full access to all of the print and electronic issues of The Nabokovian are available on this site to members of the International Vladimir Nabokov Society (IVNS). To join, please go here.

Our third feature is "Colloquy on Browning's Door" from the 34th issue (1995) of The Nabokovian.  Enjoy your reading!

 

News

IVNS Donation to HIAS

Submitted by dana_dragunoiu on Tue, 08/16/2022 - 05:54

Christopher Link, Treasurer of IVNS, would like to report that the International Vladimir Nabokov Society has made a donation in the amount of 1207.78 USD to HIAS, the refugee rescue organization that sponsored Nabokov’s escape from Europe.  As announced in an earlier post, the IVNS decided at the start of the war in Ukraine to donate all member dues collected between March 11 and May 1 of this year to HIAS. The donation was made "in Honor of Vladimir Nabokov" and has been specifically earmarked by HIAS for their Ukraine crisis response.

Announcing 83rd issue (Fall 2022) of The Nabokovian: Notes and Brief Commentaries

Submitted by dana_dragunoiu on Tue, 08/02/2022 - 07:25

Eric Naiman is pleased to announce the publication of the Fall 2022 issue of The Nabokovian: Notes and Brief Commentaries. Thank you, Eric, for another roster of exciting new Nabokoviana!

Erik Eklund, Do Not Be Angry at the Moon: Pale Fire and the Old English Boethius

Matthew Roth, "Together Unto the Tomb": Orphic Undercurrents in "The Return of Chorb"

Kathryn Haydon debuts her recitation of "Pale Fire" on 63rd anniversary of John Shade's death and VD Nabokov's 152nd birthday

Submitted by dana_dragunoiu on Thu, 07/21/2022 - 05:34
Cats do not make good props.

Dear Nabokovians,

I am both excited and anxious to share this labor of love and obsession for your amusement on this, the 63rd anniversary of John Shade's death and Vladimir Dmitrievich Nabokov's 152nd birthday. In the linked video I recite in full "Pale Fire," which I committed to memory in 8 weeks earlier this year.

Thank you to the board members of the IVNS, especially Dana Dragunoiu and Stanislav Shvabrin, who encouraged me to make this video, and the wonderful Nabokovians at the Hidden Nabokov conference in Wellesley who listened to my live performance of lines 665-834 on June 19th.

Announcing Nabokov Readings, July 21-23

Submitted by dana_dragunoiu on Tue, 07/19/2022 - 08:08

The Institute of Russian Literature (St. Petersburg) is holding its annual Nabokov Readings conference on July 21-23. 

Some sessions will be offline, others will be on Zoom. 

All the sessions will be streamed on the Institute's Youtube channel 

https://www.youtube.com/c/%D0%98%D0%A0%D0%9B%D0%98%D0%A0%D0%90%D0%9D%D0%9F%D1%83%D1%88%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%BD%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9%D0%94%D0%BE%D0%BC

The program is as follows:

 

Tuesday, June 21st, at 7pm: Talk on Lolita and Edgar Allan Poe

Submitted by dana_dragunoiu on Mon, 06/20/2022 - 20:38

Hello dear colleagues and friends,

Some of you know that I study Poe as well as Nabokov. I'm bringing these two interests together tomorrow night as part of Poe Baltimore's year-long celebration of Virginia Poe's bicentennial. Why did Nabokov consider titling Lolita either A Kingdom by the Sea or Ginny, the nickname for a heroine who might have been called Virginia rather than Dolores?  I'll be discussing Virginia Poe's influence on Nabokov's novel; on Annabel Leigh, Ginny McCoo, and Dolores Haze; and on different aspects of Humbert's defense, as he construes it in his confession.