Yevtushenko Reads Yevtushenko
WOMPA
Tulsa
July 19, 2024
If you haven’t been to WOMPA yet, I’ll start by saying it’s unlike anything else in the city. It holds offices, event spaces, a hair salon, a screenprinting studio, vendors, art galleries, places to cook out, Airbnbs. Most of all, though, it feels like a place you can go, be, and maybe spark some creativity of your own, whether or not you think of yourself as an artist. It’s packed with color, antique and vintage-looking decor, extravagant rugs, maximalist-chic sitting areas.
A great place for a poetry night. Last weekend it saw a special poetry tribute: One of Tulsa’s best literary citizens (and literary talent in his own right), Zhenya Yevtushenko, hosted a reading in honor of his late father, the great poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko, the day following what would have been his 92nd birthday.
WOMPA as a whole is a sprawling warehouse, but the event space is cozy, intimate. Even though Yevtushenko — who lived in Tulsa and taught at TU from 1992 until his death in 2017 — was and is one of the world’s most distinguished and celebrated literary figures, you can never be sure a poetry reading on a Friday night in Tulsa will be well-attended. Most seats were filled, though, and an unmistakable air of reverence filled the room prior to the kickoff. Along with some Russian folk singing over the speakers to get us in the mood.
A gracious Zhenya welcomed us. He described his father as someone who loved celebrating his birthday but had a habit of forgetting others’. He introduced the idea of being from two worlds, Russia and the U.S., and also belonging to both the Russian and the English languages. The event was as much a celebration of being “a citizen of the Russian language,” a sentiment he summoned from Joseph Brodsky, as it was a tribute to his father’s life and work.
The first poem of the night, read in both languages: Zhenya’s mother’s favorite, “The Window Looks Out Onto,” which meditates on the idea that “you can’t do much about getting old.” A fitting start to a birthday event. Both the English and the Russian were beautiful, though Zhenya mentioned his Russian features a bit of a speech impediment not unlike Lenin’s — “and he got pretty far,” he joked. In the window behind him, golden hour light fell upon the birds and the trees.
Throughout the evening, Zhenya brought up several special guests: Edwin Canito Garcia, who plucked the upright bass alongside Yevtushenko’s words (not his first gig like this — he’s been working with Zhenya on poetry events for years); Tony Brinkley, spoken word artist and storyteller, who recited “Sleep My Beloved”; Michael Mason, journalist and and WOMPA co-creator, who read “There Are No Boring People”; Kaveh Bassiri, poet and translator, who read “God Grant”; and Zhenya’s brother Dmitry, also a writer, who read “Metamorphosis” in English alongside Zhenya’s Russian.
A child during World War II, Yevgeny Yevtushenko was known for his antiwar/anti-prejudice poetry, and this night’s event maintained a sense of activism and witness. Zhenya read his father’s famous poem “Babi Yar” and promoted Poems Not Bombs, an initiative that provides opportunities for poetry for kids in Odesa amid Russia’s war on Ukraine. Definitely check it out, and give if you can. All in all, it was a warm, inviting evening, almost like a family affair. A time to celebrate beauty but also confront our world’s many darknesses — to bring art, joy and happiness “to a world that says no,” as Zhenya put it.
