Profile:

My areas of specialization are contemporary Russian literature and film, Eastern European cinema, the visual arts, and digital humanities. In my scholarly works, I often examine the visual poetics of the text, anything from book covers to children’s animation and celebrity Instagram stories. In addition to experimenting in the field of digital humanities, I have published books on Vladimir Nabokov, Joseph Brodsky, and Osip Mandel’stam. I am also the founding editor of the Nabokov Online Journal

Various field practices inform and stimulate my broader artistic and academic interests: I particularly enjoy street photography and have produced several documentary films. The Roman Elegy of Joseph Brodsky (2020, 60 min.) examines the poet’s creative life in Rome. Nabokov’s Magic Lantern (2021, 60 min.), featuring archival footage and interviews, offers an iconoclastic look at the writer’s canonical biography. 

My third documentary, Akhmatova’s Orphans. Dissassembly (2024, 70 min.), follows four Leningrad poets — Joseph Brodsky, Evgenii Rein, Anatoly Naiman, and Dmitrii Bobyshev — whom Anna Akhmatova called her “magic choir.” After her death, they became known as the “Akhmatova orphans.” In this film, the poets reflect on the origins of the “orphans” myth, their literary careers, and the fractures in their friendships. It is a story of memory, poetry, and the passage of time.

Current Projects: 

In my current research I analyze the aesthetics, design, and paratextual motifs of the opening and closing title sequences of Russian movies.

My monograph in progress is based on the unpublished drawings of Joseph Brodsky and it explores the Nobel Prize laureate’s unknown legacy as a graphic artist.
 
My debut work of fiction in Russian, The Zeppelin Stamp. A Storyboard Novel (2022), was recently published by Perlov Design Gallery. It blends art, photography and narrative.

Finally, I compiled an anthology of contemporary Russian poetry written in direct response to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine (2022), and edited Anatoly Naiman’s last poetry book <bliakha-mukha> (2024).

Courses Taught:

• Eastern European Cinema: War, Love, and Revolutions
• Vladimir Nabokov
• Putin’s Russia Before and After the War in Ukraine
• Akhmatova's Orphans
• How iRead the Eye-Books: Film Adaptations of World Literature
• Dreamers and Bandits in Russian Cinema
• Andrei Tarkovsky: A Cinematic Legacy
• The Worlds of Storytelling: Digital, Textual, Cinematic

Authored Books: 

	Марка с цеппелином. Роман-сториборд [The Zeppelin Stamp. A Storyboard Novel] St. Petersburg: Perlov Design Gallery, 2022.
	Nabokov in Motion. Modernity and Movement New York: Bloomsbury, 2022.
	Поэзия в мертвой петле. Мандельштам и авиация [Poetry in a Dead Loop. Mandelstam and Aviation] Moscow: Boslen, 2021.
	Иосиф Бродский в Риме. Путеводитель [Joseph Brodsky in Rome: A Literary Guide]. Vol. I. St. Petersburg: Perlov Design Center, 2020.
	Иосиф Бродский в Риме. Поэзия, проза, графика [Joseph Brodsky in Rome: Poetry, Prose, Art]. Vol. II. St. Petersburg: Perlov Design Center, 2020.
	Иосиф Бродский в Риме. Труды и дни [Joseph Brodsky in Rome: Life and Work]. Vol. III. St. Petersburg: Perlov Design Center, 2020.
	Революция зримого. Образы на сетчатке [A Revolution of the Visible: Images on the Retina] Moscow: New Literary Observer, 2018.
	Marketing Literature and Posthumous Legacies: The Symbolic Capital of Leonid Andreev and Vladimir Nabokov Co-authored with Frederick H. White New York, Lanham, MD: Lexington Books; Rowman & Littlefield, 2013.
	Keys to The Gift. A Guide to Vladimir Nabokov’s Novel Boston: Academic Studies Press, 2011.
	Воспитание оптикой: Книжная графика, анимация, текст [Upbringing by Optics: Book Illustration, Animation, and Text] Moscow: New Literary Observer, 2010.
	Вокзал – Гараж – Ангар: Владимир Набоков и поэтика русского урбанизма [Train Station – Garage – Hangar: Vladimir Nabokov and Poetics of Russian Urbanism] St. Petersburg: Ivan Limbakh, 2004. Short-listed for Andrey Bely Literary Prize (2004)

Edited Volumes: 

	Naiman, Anatoly. <bliakha-mukha>: Stikhi, 2020–2021. St. Petersburg: Jaromír Hladík press, 2024.
	A Blue Brick. Festschrift in Honour of John E. Bowlt on the Occasion of his 80th Birthday  [Синий кирпич. Сборник в честь 80-летия Джона Э. Боулта]  Frankfurt am Main: Esterum, 2023
	Поэзия последнего времени [The Doomsday Poetry. Chronicles] St. Petersburg: Ivan Limbakh, 2022.
	Shades of Laura: Vladimir Nabokov’s Last Novel The Original of Laura Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2013.
	Lolita: The Story of a Cover Girl – Vladimir Nabokov’s Novel in Art and Design Co-edited with John Bertram New York: Print, 2013
	Лолита — история девушки с обложки: Роман Владимира Набокова в книжной графике и дизайне Санкт-Петербург: Крига, 2019.
	Anatomy of a Short Story. Nabokov’s Puzzles, Codes, “Signs and Symbols” New York: Continuum, 2012.
	The Goalkeeper: The Nabokov Almanac Boston: Academic Studies Press, 2010.
	Империя N. Набоков и наследники [Empire N. Nabokov and his Heirs] Co-edited with Evgeniy Soshkin Moscow: New Literary Observer, 2006.
	Шиповник. Сборник к 60-летию Романа Тименчика [Eglintine. Festschrift in Honor of Professor Roman Timenchik’s 60th Birthday]. Co-edited with Alexander Ospovat and Yuri Tsivian Moscow: Vodolei Publishers, 2005.