Vladimir Nabokov

Call for renewal of memberships and New Year's greetings

By dana_dragunoiu, 28 December, 2022

Dear All:

On behalf of the International Vladimir Nabokov Society, I write with New Year’s greetings and with a reminder that it is time to renew your Society membership.

It is difficult to send the customary holiday greetings during this time of war and trauma. The writer whose legacy connects us to each other was, before anything else, a Russian whose life was profoundly impacted by tragic historical events.  As you will recall, IVNS has issued a statement last winter condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and donated all money collected from its December 2021-April 2022 registrations to HIAS, the Jewish-American nonprofit organization whose humanitarian aid to refugees enabled the Nabokovs to escape from France on the eve of Hitler’s invasion.

In light of the ongoing war and the continued devastation of Ukraine by Russia, the IVNS has decided to follow the same policy as last year: all dues collected from December 2022 to the end of April 2022 will be donated to HIAS. (Please note that non-dues donations to the IVNS will not be forwarded to HIAS unless requested by the donor.) Additionally, we will waive dues for all those affected by the war, wherever they may live, and those living under the conditions of economic precariousness. To make a request for a dues’ waiver, please email Stanislav Shvabrin at shvabrin@email.unc.edu.

As we try to cope with this new terrible reality, we also need to remember our deeply loved and profoundly respected colleagues living in Russia, where free speech is punishable by law and the police state is as powerful as it was in Nabokov’s lifetime.

To renew your memberships, please click on the "JOIN OR DONATE" button on the site's landing page or click on this link:

https://thenabokovian.org/become-member

I hope, as you do, that 2023 will be better than 2022.

Warmest wishes to you all,

Dana Dragunoiu

General Editor of TheNabokovian.org

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