[Bornholm Island]. Ostrov Borngol’m. No 3. Typescript.    

Illustration by T.A.

Leningrad-Kursk, 1989.
4to, ill., [160] l.

Pages stapled together in a book. In handmade green hardcover.
Near very good condition, with manuscript additions or emendations in blue ink.

Rare samizdat magazine of underground Soviet literature.

‘Bornholm Island’ is a samizdat (underground press) magazine, curated and published by Sergei Chubukin (b. 1963), a graduate of the journalism program at Leningrad State University. Chubukin was associated with some of the most significant literary circles in early 1980s Leningrad, including the literary society (LITO), which served as a school and meeting place for young poets, led by poet and writer Victor Sosnora, a prominent figure in the Leningrad school. He was also involved with ‘Club-81’, a notable writers' association in the Leningrad underground scene, serving as an alternative to the Union of Soviet Writers. Established in 1981 with approval from the authorities but under the control of the KGB, it became the first public platform where unofficial literature had the opportunity to legally address a wider audience than the customary house readings typical of unofficial literature. 
And the magazine 'Bornholm Island', which had a brief run from 1988 to 1989, featured works by authors associated with ‘Club-81’ and similar groups. Despite the advent of Perestroika, publishing poetry and prose that deviated from official ideology remained challenging, and such works circulated primarily through samizdat channels.
This issue showcases poems by Chubukin himself (writing under the pseudonym Jack Sal’nikov), along with works by poet, book artist, and publisher of the influential samizdat almanac ‘Epsilon-Salon’, Nikolai Baytov (b. 1951), poet Boris Berkovich (b. 1960), and poet and curator Igor Sorokin(b. 1965). It also features stories such as ‘Inhabitants’ by Viktoria Belomlinaskaia (1937-2008), a writer and the wife of artist Mikhail Belomlinskii, and ‘Pieces of Earth’ by poet and writer Dmitrii Grigor’ev (b. 1960). Additionally, the issue contains short pieces titled ‘Unplayed Exercises’ and ‘Bald Children of John and a Cat on the Carpet’ by Arkadii Bartov (1940-2010), a writer and essayist inspired by the avant-garde collective OBERIU. Furthermore, it includes a translation from Alain Robbe-Grillet, the French writer and filmmaker closely associated with the Nouveau Roman movement (retyped from another samizdat magazine of the translator section of ‘Club-81’ ‘Predlog’), as well as an essay titled ‘Moscow Romantic Conceptualism’ by art critic and philosopher Boris Groys (b. 1947), among others.

Very rare. Nos 1 and 3 are housed in the Manuscripts Department of the National Library of Russia.