I emigrated to Canada with my two then young sons at a time when nobody could imagine the imminent imploding of the Soviet Empire. I had left behind Moscow, the city where I grew up, and a cushy job of a lecturer at the Moscow State University. My initiation into Canadian life began in Montreal, at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, where I worked as a producer and broadcaster.

 

 

Academia:

 

I speak several languages,  which enables me to pursue  my keen interest in literature, art and history more easily. In Vancouver, I found my perfect audience among the students of Liberal Arts Program +55  at SFU, where I've been teaching a great variety of courses including Russian and European Literature, Art, Film, and Ballet.                SFU link

 

Culture Tours:

 

Before Covid, I was taking my students and their friends  on field trips to Russia, and former Soviet Republics, such as Armenia, Georgia and Lithuania. Covid will pass, but our wanderlust will endure.

 

Fiction Writing:

 

Having left Russia, as a writer, I had to reinvent myself in another language, climbing the Everest of English in fits and starts. It took me more than ten years to reach the base camp. But I keep climbing.

 

 

 

Tango:

 

Of the few things that can lure me away from my desk, dancing tango is close to the top of the list.