The Enigma of Isaac Babel (Feb 29- March 2)

The Enigma of Isaac Babel (February 29-March 2) is the scholarly centerpiece of the Babel events at Stanford University. The conference is organized by Gregory Freidin (Slavic), Gabriella Safran (Slavic and Jewish Studies) and Steven Zipperstein, (History and Jewish Studies). Conference speakers and guests come from the US, Russia, Hungary, Israel, and China. Among the Conference guests are Babel?s daughter Nathalie, his widow, Antonina Pirozhkova and their daughter Lydia, and the translator of the W.W. Norton Complete Babel (2001), Peter Constantine. The conference will open at the Herbert Hoover Memorial Exhibition Pavilion (next to the Hoover Tower) at 1:30 on Sunday, February 29, 2004. It will run for two more days at the Tresidder Student Union Oak Lounge (Monday, March 1: 9:30-5:30 and 8:00-9:30 PM; and Tuesday, March 2, from 9:30 AM to 1:30 PM).

The conference will also feature the U.S. premier of Babel's play Maria, as well as an exhibition of Babel's memorabilia.