Inside the Soviet Writers' Union

Abstract

The USSR's Writers' Union, a form of cultural and political organization unknown to the West, has ruled every aspect of Russian writers personal and professional lives from the time of Stalin to Gorbachev. John and Carol Garrard provide a rare and informed view of how this powerful institution has worked to influence a writer's life, words, ideas and publications over the last five decades. Based on extensive research and interviews with Soviet writers and officials, both inside and outside Russia, the book portrays the non-governmental Union as a unique microcosm of Party structure and ideology as well as an extensive, paternalistic club whose members form a social and economic elite.