Metropol (almanac)
literary almanac
The Metropol' Almanac is a collection of uncensored texts by famous writers, self published in Samizdat in Moscow in December 1978. . The collection was organized by Vasily Aksyonov, and counted with contributions from a number of Soviet writers, such as Fazil Iskander, Andrei Bitov, Andrei Voznesensky, Bella Akhmadulina and Vladimir Vysotsky, and one contribution from abroad, made by John Updike.
Copies of the almanac was smuggled to the US, and a facsimile edition was published in 1979 by Ardis Publishing. A translation to English was published by Random House, while one in French was prepared by Gallimard.
History of the Almanac
Creation of the Metropol' Almanac
The essence of the project was to place in a collection of works rejected by Soviet publishers. Not all poets and prose writers approached by the compilers of "Metropol" agreed to transfer their poems and prose to the almanac; for example, Yuri Trifonov and Bulat Okudzhava refused to participate for various reasons. Vysotsky, according to the memoirs of Vasily Aksyonov, treated the proposal "with enthusiasm" and transferred a large selection of poems for publication. John Updike sent a chapter of his new novel.
The direct work on compiling the almanac took place in the apartment that previously belonged to Aksyonov's mother, Evgenia Ginzburg, who died shortly before the publication of "Metropol". Enthusiasts and volunteer assistants worked there, retyping texts, gluing together typewritten sheets, and proofreading.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Metropol (almanac)” as literary almanac. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as literary almanac. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1361328. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1978 and 1979.
Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Metropol (almanac)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.