Arkadii in Silence: video portrait Arkadii Dragomoshchenko

Arkadii Dragomoschenko
New York, Nov, 4, 2010 (silent)
Susan, Felix, and I visited Arkadii and Zena in Petersburg in August 2001. One day outside our hotel a group of gypsies surround us and Xena swung her purse at them in such a convincing way that they immediately disbanded. Another day we took a boat ride on the Neva, sipping brandy as we glided through the city. Arkadii wrote a dedication for Susan and me in a book of his that day: "Isn't it important that the glass of brandy in the morning is more important than poetry. With all my love after endless picnics." I didn't see Arkadii again until he came to Philadelphia and New York nine years later. We hung out in one of the Columbia offices before his reading. Arkadii died two years later. It was the last time I saw him.

This is a clip from Arkadii's Close Listening program, Nov. 3, 2010, at Penn. He is answering a question about synchronicity in his poetry. I showed both of these clips at the memorial for Arkadii at NYU last night.

From the archive: Dragomoschenko on Creeley.