When we spoke to Bela she was on a summer break from teaching at the University of Iowa, and was visiting family in the Chicagoland suburbs. She had just returned from an epic trip to Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and the Greek island of Gavdos.

In this episode, we talk about the perks and perils of illegibility within a dominant culture–both as an artist and as a Soviet Jewish immigrant, the diversity Bela witnessed in Kazakhstan, teaching in Iowa, and how the naked body can be its own site of acculturation.

Guest Bio:

Bela Shayevich is a Soviet-American writer, translator, and visual artist. She is best known for her translation of 2015 Nobel laureate Svetlana Alexievich’s Secondhand Time. Her latest book is a translation of Elena Kostyuchenko’s I Love Russia, with Ilona Chavasse Yabzhin. She lives in Iowa City. 

Show Notes:

• “Bela’s Pilgrim” by Bela Shayevich 
• Failures of the avant-garde INTERVIEW // bela shayevich 
• “Egypt to Japan without flying” series by Omar Nok
• Saki’s old band Hard Nips

Fictional Characters:

• Pnin by Vladimir Nabokov
• Balki Bartokomous from Perfect Strangers
• Latka Gravas from Taxi
• Borat Sagdiyev

Credits:

• Edited by Tucker Bennett and mastered by Cedric Wilson.
• Theme music by The Necklace, a project by Taylor Shields and Morgan Võ.

Sound Credits:

• Walking in flip flops by nomerodin1 — https://freesound.org/s/474663/ — License: Attribution NonCommercial 3.0
• Soothing Ambient Music for Yoga & Meditation by Matio888 — https://freesound.org/s/796500/ — License: Attribution 4.0
• Changing Room.wav by GlenCurtisAdams — https://freesound.org/s/326920/ — License: Attribution NonCommercial 3.0
• Sauna2.mp3 by Ciuas — https://freesound.org/s/400624/ — License: Creative Commons 0
• Hissi – Elevator by YleArkisto — https://freesound.org/s/410079/ — License: Attribution 4.0
• Bathroom water leak 02.wav by Daphne_in_Wonderland — https://freesound.org/s/383472/ — License: Creative Commons 0
• Shower_Studio21Mävers.wav by Soundscape_Leuphana — https://freesound.org/s/210390/ — License: Creative Commons 0
• Splashing water in bathtub by thaighaudio — https://freesound.org/s/351412/ — License: Creative Commons 0
• [remix] Hot Tub Loop by AnLorenzo — https://freesound.org/s/339514/ — License: Attribution 3.0
• Gentle Landscapes by ViraMiller — https://freesound.org/s/743842/ — License: Attribution 4.0