RADIO 477! Will Feature Ukrainian and American Poets Reading On Stage Post-Performance at La MaMa

Serhiy Zhadan, one of Ukraine's most dynamic poets and novelists, and a key figure in his country's anti-war efforts, will be joined on stage by his American colleague Reginald Dwayne Betts at La MaMa (66 E 4 St.) following the opening night performance of the resurrected production of the long-lost 1929 Ukrainian jazz musical RADIO 477! on March 11 at 7 pm.

Mr. Zhadan has provided text and poetry to the new production of RADIO 477! - which has not been performed since it was destroyed by Stalin and his cronies during the dictator's purge of Ukraine in the 1930's. Zhadan began a gripping exchange of letters about 'war and words' with Mr. Betts at the onset of the war. Mr. Betts writing draws on his experience having become a poet during his imprisonment in the U.S. Mr. Betts is now a legal scholar and teaches literature and writing to the incarcerated.

The exchange between Messrs. Zhadan and Betts was facilitated by the noted Holocaust historian Timothy Snyder, and Marci Shore, a professor of intellectual history. Both are on the faculty of Yale University.

Zhadan is the author of numerous editions of poetry and several novels, and is the front man for a Ukrainian rock band. A popular figure credited with having helped change the course of Ukrainian writing with his young, experimental works starting in 1990, Serhiy Zhadan has also been instrumental in organizing his fellow writers and artists as they provide humanitarian aid to Ukrainians during the war.

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