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The Forum

Our magazine began in 2003 as a quarterly update of Forum news called simply SRF Newsletter. It was renamed the SRF Review in 2007 and became a twice yearly magazine with more editorial content and colour.  In 2013 the name became Scotland Russia Review and in 2016 the name changed again, to The FORUM, and  content was targeted more at our members and supporters.  All members receive a copy by post (or email if preferred) and copies are available to others on request.

Monthly News Letter

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2024 EVENTS AND NEWS

  1. THE PETER HARVEY MEMORIAL TALK: Members are reminded that this talk will take place on SATURDAY OCTOBER 19 in the QUAKER ROOMS in Central Edinburgh. The talk will start at 2pm, access will be available as from 45pm; after the talk tea, coffee, soft drinks, sandwiches and cakes will be available and members will have a chance to meet Gillian Harvey, Peter’s widow and some other family members and the speaker, well-known Scottish author, translator and publisher, Allan Cameron. He will be discussing some of the important Russian aspects of his latest highly acclaimed novel A Woman’s War against Progress. This novel has had excellent reviews and should be of great interest to all. Allan Cameron will also be mentioning a new Latvian novel he will be publishing soon. You will be able purchase his book on Saturday. If you are unable to attend in person, the zoomlink for this talk can be found in the e-mail which accompanies this Bulletin. All welcome. NB PLEASE MAKE SURE TO UPLIFT A COPY OF THE SHORT TRIBUTE TO PETER HARVEY AND DETAILS ABOUT THE SPEAKER AS YOU COME IN TO THE QUAKER ROOMS ON SATURDAY. Thank you.
  2. DR KAREN HEWITT will be our next speaker in the “Cultural Conversations” series. Dr Hewitt will be talking about the Oxford- Perm Project on Monday 28th October at 3pm. The zoomlink for this talk will be sent out nearer the date of the talk. This should be a fascinating talk and of interest to all.  
  3. MIKHAIL VODOPYANOV kindly sent in information about the following musical events to be held in Scotland in late October; Elizabeth Leonskaja is coming to Scotland to perform Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto on 3 dates in late October as follows: Dundee (Caird Hall) on October 23; Edinburgh (Usher Hall) on October 25 and Glasgow, (Royal Concert Hall) on October 26. You can find more details on the RSNO website: https://wwwrsno.orguk/liveevent/beethovens-emperor-concert/
  4. LES BALLETS RUSSES: SRF Honorary President Dairmid Gunn and dance expert Agnes Ness will be giving a talk on this Ballet Company on Monday 25th November from 7pm-8.30pm at the Royal Scots Club, 29-31 Abercromby Place, Edinburgh. Founded in 1909 by the famous Russian impresario Serge Diaghilev, in its early years it was totally “Russian” in terms of music, dance, choreography and stage design. Although the company never performed in Russia, it was widely acclaimed as a cultural phenomenon that influenced the development of ballet throughout Europe and America. It ceased to exist after Diaghilev’s death in 1929. Entrance to this talk is FREE although non-members of the Royal Scots Club wishing to attend are kindly requested to send their names BY FRIDAY 22nd NOVEMBER to DAIRMID GUNN at Dairmid@go-plus.net.
  5. “RECOVERING RUSSIA”: As members already know, on Friday June 28th the SRF Chair attended a very important Meeting which formed the fourth and last Workshop in the Glasgow University Research Project entitled “From the Ground Up: ReFraming Russian Studies in Scotland and Beyond.” The Full Report from this Project will be sent to members as soon as it is received. It is expected that a summary of all four Workshops will be produced, together with relevant conclusions.  
  6. “CHAI AND CHAT” This very successful and popular group will continue its Autumn meetings on Thursday 7th NOVEMBER in the Mercure Hotel, (Scott’s Restaurant), Princes Street, Edinburgh at noon. All most welcome to attend! Sincerest thanks to all who have kept this meeting going so well – especially, of course, to Elizabeth White.
  7. THE EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL RUSSIAN LANGUAGE EXCHANGE. The next meeting of this Russian/English language exchange will be on Sunday NOVEMBER 3 and Sunday DECEMBER 1 at the usual time. You can access the meetings from the following link https://us0web.zoom.us/j/84247799935?pwd=c0cxTk92YUFCME16eitqMkYyvdjRrUT09 Meeting ID:84247799935 Pass Code: 1234 or you can e-mail Graham Dane at grahamdane@yahoo.com.  All welcome to join these sessions. Any level of language from A2 is fine – the groups are small and accommodating to slow conversation. Help others practise their English and you can practise your Russian. If you teach Russian, why not encourage your students to attend – there is no charge for these sessions. Thanks to Graham Dane for this excellent initiative.    
  8. A MEMBERS’ BOOK CORNER will shortly be set up in these Bulletins and you can share with us books you have enjoyed and write short reviews for other SRF members.   
  9. HELP WITH ENGLISH FOR A RUSSIAN STUDENT!!! A request for help with IELTS English speaking skills has come from a Russian University! “A young student, aged about 23, will be taking this exam on December 14. He has quite good listening and reading skills, but he struggles significantly with speaking. Does any member know of a person 20-40 who might agree to meet with him on-line once a week for 60 or 90 minutes and chat about common IELTS topics in a casual way? He is open to do 50-50 -50% in English and 50% in Russian”. If you can help, please e-mail me at Tejerizo@glasgow.ac.uk and I will pass on the various details. Thank you.   
  10. “UKRAINIAN WAR STORIESJenny Carr, former Chair of SRF and great contributor to all its activities has very kindly shared one of her latest initiatives and website “Ukrainian War Stories” with us. Please see: https://www.ukrainianwarstories.com/
  • CHEKHOV PROJECT The SRF Chekhov Project under the expert guidance of Trustee Tom Hubbard will be continuing later this autumn… Watch this space…
  1. FAMOUS SCOTTISH SLAVISTS…As some members will recall, Scotland used to have 6 active departments of Russian…Edinburgh, Heriot Watt, St Andrews, Strathclyde, Aberdeen and Glasgow…We think of outstanding Scottish Slavists such as Denis Ward, Jim Halliday. Jim Forsyth, Reg Christian, Terry Wade, Peter Henry and many others…Would you like to share memories of any of those scholars and of others? We are now running a feature in “The Forum” about them and this new series will be inaugurated in the Winter 2024 issue. Watch this space!
  2. FINALLY …THE SRF WEBSITE!!!! Work is now well under way to renew the SRF website! Sincere thanks are due to SRF Treasurer Graham Dane and SRF Secretary Ewan Paterson for their time and great professional skills.
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