News & Events
Beyond Borders Event Series
Transnational Care Book Club Presents: Beyond Borders: Black鈥揑ndigenous Encounters between Audre Lorde and Antonina Kymytval鈥�
Lecture by Naomi Caffee on November 3 鈥� Workshop & Collective Creation by Tatsiana Shchurko on November 7
Join us in making the archive speak again 鈥� across languages, across borders, across time.
What happens when a Black feminist poet from Harlem crosses paths鈥攁cross continents and languages鈥攚ith an Indigenous Chukchi writer from the Russian Far East in 1976? What new worlds of care, creativity, and solidarity open up when we bring their encounter into conversation today?
This two-part event is a playground for curious minds and bold creators: students, artists, thinkers, and community members from all disciplines are invited to dive into topics often left out of textbooks, including Indigenous feminism, Black feminism, digital humanities, transnational solidarity, and Eurasian studies. You鈥檒l explore the intersections of political thought, creative writing, and cultural translation, experiment with new forms of expression, and map distant geographies and diverse lived experiences in a hands-on, collaborative environment.
This is your chance to read, write, imagine, and create across borders鈥攁nd leave with work that amplifies voices too often overlooked.
Lecture: Indigenous Writers, Soviet Spaces: Notes on Reading and Relation in the Contact Zone with Dr. Naomi Caffee
November 3 | 5:00鈥�6:30 PM | Online via Teams
RSVP Required
This talk examines the context behind a remarkable literary event: the meeting of Audre Lorde and the Indigenous Chukchi poet Antonina Kymytval鈥� at a 1976 writers鈥� conference in Soviet Uzbekistan. What brought them together? What did they really mean to each other? I borrow a concept first developed by Mary Louise Pratt (鈥淎rts of the Contact Zone,鈥� 1991) in order to offer some ideas for how to approach their encounter and its significance for their respective bodies of work. I will discuss the experiences of Indigenous writers who passed through the Soviet Union鈥檚 myriad 鈥渃ontact zones鈥� at home and abroad, from classrooms and museums to congresses and public demonstrations. Examples include Chukchi writer Yury Rytkheu's essay on encountering "himself" in an ethnographic museum exhibit, the joint Kazakh and Western Shoshone ritual protest actions of the Nevada-Semipalatinsk Antinuclear Movement, and Kiowa writer N. Scott Momaday's poetic exchanges with Nenets and Khanty counterparts in Western Siberia. For Kymytval鈥� and Indigenous writers of her generation, Soviet 鈥渃ontact zones鈥� offered new avenues of connection and collaboration, yet also presented intractable problems of misrepresentation, translation, and mediation.
is an Associate Professor of Russian and Humanities at Reed College. Her main area of research is Russophone literature 鈥� authors who write in Russian, but at a distance from ethnic, national, or civic notions of Russian-ness. Her scholarship has been published in numerous academic journals and edited volumes, including Comparative Literature Studies and Experiment: a Journal of Russian Culture. Her recent collaborative projects include Tulips in Bloom: an Anthology of Central Asian Literature (Palgrave, 2024) and "e."
Please register by email to receive the event link.
Beyond Borders Collaborative Workshop
November 7 | 12:00鈥�3:00 PM | In-person EDU 415
RSVP Required
Step into the archive. Make it speak. Create across borders.
Join us for a hands-on, mind-expanding workshop where reading, discussion, and creative writing collide. Explore under-discussed topics like Indigenous and Black feminist frameworks, cultural translation, and transnational connections between Europe, Eurasia, and the Americas鈥攁ll in a space designed for curiosity, creativity, and collaboration.
No prior expertise required鈥攋ust bring your imagination, openness, and care. Snacks and informal conversation will fuel connections across disciplines and experiences.
Guided by Dr. Tatsiana Shchurko and short pre-circulated readings, participants will:
- Dive into texts: Read and discuss Audre Lorde鈥檚 "Notes on a Trip to Russia" alongside Kymytval鈥檚 poetry, exploring the cultural and geographical landscapes that shaped their work.
- Think critically and creatively: Investigate how translation, solidarity, and difference move through words, worlds, and histories.
- Create together: Craft essays, zines, creative writing, lesson plans, or interviews for , a collective publication amplifying overlooked voices.
By the end, you鈥檒l leave with a creative draft, new collaborators, and fresh insights into how Black and Indigenous feminist thought, Eurasian literature, and transnational encounters can expand conversations beyond conventional frameworks.
Open to students, faculty, artists, and community members interested in creative exploration, under-discussed feminist perspectives, and global literatures. Perfect for students in literature, ethnic studies, gender studies, art, translation, history, or anyone curious about creative cross-cultural dialogue.
Bring your voice. Bring your curiosity. Bring care beyond borders.