Reading Groups

Reading the Russians II with Sheila Kohler (Sold Out)

Free

Five Sessions

Five Sessions Mondays, 6:00 pm EDT - 7:30 pm EDT February 20 to May 15, 2023

Online via Zoom

This group has reached its capacity. To join the waitlist, please email Sam Lim-Kimberg at [email protected].

Meeting Dates:
2/20, 3/13, 4/3, 4/24, 5/15
Online via Zoom

We will read three great stories by Chekhov who wrote at the end of the nineteenth century, followed by Fathers and Sons, Ivan Turgenev’s short early novel, a book attacked by both the Right and the Left; and end with The Possessed by Fyodor Dostoevsky, his brilliant satire of an era of great confusion and change, looking at how these great writers worked seemingly without artifice and with great compassion to share with us their understanding of human nature.

Participants will receive a PDF with the short stories required for this group in their order confirmation email. Participants should read all three stories (“The Party,” “In a Woman’s Kingdom,” and “The Lady with the Pet Dog”) in advance of the first meeting. The books required for this group are available for purchase from our Bookstore.

Led by

Sheila Kohler

Sheila Kohler

Sheila Kohler is the author of eleven novels, three collections of short stories, and a memoir, Once We Were Sisters. Kohler has been awarded the O. Henry twice, two stories have been included in Best American Short Stories, and her story “Miss Martin” was in Best American Mystery Stories 2020. Her work has been translated and published widely abroad. She has taught creative writing at Columbia University, Sarah Lawrence, City College, and at Princeton since 2007. She was a fellow at the New York Public Library’s Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers in 2003-4 and a visiting writer at the American Academy of Rome in 2012, 2013, 2015, and 2022. Her novel, Cracks has been filmed with Jordan Scott as director and Ridley Scott as executive producer and Eva Green playing Miss G, and is being republished this January with Open Road.

Photo Credit: Beowulf Sheehan

About this series

Reading Groups

Whether you’re looking to catch up on great novels or you’re interested in exploring a new writer or literary period, our reading groups offer high-level literary discussion led by experts in the field.

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