Zolotaja ručka began in 2015 as part of an ongoing project to engage students and other interested readers in the writing of Russian women beginning in the early 18th century. It features commentaries, translations, illustrations, and suggestions for further research. The blog was conceived in part as a teaching tool, but also contains information that should be of interest to specialists.

At present, this blog is composed of two main threads: (1) The Golicyn History, which so far follows a roughly chronological order and is my own personal project. These posts review individual women writers as explained in more detail in the third post (Dec. 10, 2015). Much of the commentary raises questions that aim to provoke further reflection. Some of these questions are flagged with the word "STUDENT": these are specific suggestions for student research topics.

Suggestions for “further reading” are not intended to be comprehensive, but meant as “a few good places to start.” We look forward to learning more about women’s writing from scholars in the field, but also from student papers and theses. We invite information about new publications of relevance and would be open to hosting book reviews. We would also be delighted to publish student translations. In fact, the second thread in this blog, (2) The Translations, presents the work of students and scholars to an international public. The plan is to feature translations in both English and Italian. Please contact us if you would like to propose a translation or would like us to suggest one for you.

The transliteration system used herein follows the scholarly Italian system (й = j, ч = č, ш = š, щ = šč, ж = ž, х = ch).

In the fall of 2020, the blog was moved to a new platform. More detail on the history of the blog, its name, and its organization may be found in the first three posts.

Sara Dickinson

Associate Professor of Russian Literature and Culture

Università degli Studi di Genova

July 2020