On 30 March, Herzen University hosted Natalya Sokolovskaya, writer, translator, and literary editor. She authored several volumes of prose: Slave of Belles Lettres: Days of Work and Leisure,  The Standard of Love, View from Mont Blanc, Portraying God; books of poetry: Nature of Light, Unsealed Letters, Angels Forever, and translated poetry from the Georgian language. Natalya Sokolovskaya initiated a series of important literary projects in Russia: she designed and led a joint Russian-Georgian project “Shota Rustaveli’s poem The Knight in the Panther’s Skin” (published by Bilingva, 2007, 2015); authored the project “Olga: Forbidden Diary” dedicated to Olga Berggolts (St. Petersburg, 2010) and the project “I will live till old age, till the day of glory… Boris Kornilov” (St. Petersburg, 2012); she edited the complete war-time diaries of Olga Berggolts (St. Petersburg, 2015).

The Conference Hall of Herzen University was full; the lecture was attended by the students and lecturers from the Institute of Foreign Languages, SCIT students and trainers. For students, such meetings are more than a cultural event, they give a glimpse of what professional life has in store for future linguists and translators. SCIT and Herzen’s IFL are planning similar joint events aimed at educating the youth in the spirit of respect for the native language, profound understanding of our history and culture.