The Courtyard of Wonders

On the literary map of the Silver Age, Irina Odoevtseva, "the little poetess with a big bow," as she called herself, and a favored student of Nikolai Gumilev, holds a special place. Her first collection "The Courtyard of Wonders" (1922) became a notable event in literary life and was warmly endorsed by critics. "...The sense of style to such an extent as Odoevtseva possesses is a sign of very great talent," wrote Vladimir Pyast. Even the caustic Lev Trotsky bestowed praise upon Odoevtseva, highlighting "The Courtyard of Wonders" among "little books and booklets": "Very, very lovely poems." However, fame came to her even earlier. At poetry evenings, the young Odoevtseva enjoyed great popularity and read her poems brilliantly, including the famous "Ballad of Crushed Glass." Alexander Blok noted her immediately, while Kornei Chukovsky, Mikhail Lozinsky, and Georgy Ivanov admired her work. In 1922, Irina Odoevtseva left Russia and spent much of her life in France, but in 1987 she returned to her homeland, where she had the opportunity to see her books published in the USSR in huge editions. In addition to memoir prose, Odoevtseva's work includes several novels translated into many languages, as well as seven poetry collections that have become an integral part of 20th-century Russian poetry.