“I Struggle, Pencil in Hand.” Mariya Petrovykh’s Mastery of Translation and Poetry

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.46991/TSTP/2026.SI.3.166

Keywords:

Mariya Petrovykh, Soviet translation practice, Russian translation, Russian poetry, poet-translator

Abstract

The renowned Russian translator Mariya Petrovykh (1908-1979) wrote original poems throughout her life. Although her poetry was little known outside her circle of friends and admirers, many collections of her works include a selection of both her verses and translations. However, the mutual influence between these two creative activities has not yet received scholarly attention. This article highlights the presence of fruitful echoes in Petrovykh’s work as a translator, poet, and editor. Reading Mariya Petrovykh’s translations against the background of her original poetry (and vice versa) enables a deeper analysis of her poetics and translation approach.

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Author Biography

  • Martina Napolitano, University of Trieste

    PhD in Slavic Studies; research fellow and lecturer in Russian language and translation at the University of Trieste, Italy. Her research interests lie primarily in Russian culture of the late Soviet and post-Soviet eras, with a focus on women’s poetry and the intersections of poetry and music.

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Published

2026-09-25

Issue

Re-thinking Soviet Translation Studies

Section

Part II: Re-thinking Soviet World Literature from the Periphery

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Copyright (c) 2026 Martina Napolitano

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

Napolitano, Martina. 2026. “‘I Struggle, Pencil in Hand.’ Mariya Petrovykh’s Mastery of Translation and Poetry”. Translation Studies: Theory and Practice 3 (September): 166-81. https://doi.org/10.46991/TSTP/2026.SI.3.166.