SMOG () was one of the earliest informal literary groups independent of the Soviet state in the post-Stalin Soviet Union. Among several interpretations of the acronym are Smelost', Mysl', Obraz i Glubina (Courage, Thought, Image and Depth), and, humorously, Samoe Molodoe Obshchestvo Geniev (Society of Youngest Geniuses).Or: Szhatyj Mig Otrazhennoi Giperboly (Condensed Moment of Reflected Hyperbole). 'Smog' is also a past tense of the verb 'to be able to', yielding 'I was able to', or 'I did it'. , p. 15An interview with Kublanovsky It is also a pun: the Russian word "смог" means "<he> was able (to do something)".
It was organized in January/February 1965 by a group of young poets and writers: Poet Leonid Gubanov (initiator, membership card #1); writer and editor (membership card #2); poet and publicist Yuri Kublanovsky; , a poet who received the Andrei Bely Prize; and poets Nikolai Bokov and , later joined by several dozens of others.Диссиденты о диссидентстве. «Знамя». — М., 1997, № 9Виктория Андреева, SMOGСенкевич А. Показания свидетелей защиты: Из истории русского поэтического подполья 1960-х. М., 1992г.; Алейников В. Смелость, Мысль, Образ, Глубина // Другое искусство (as cite in )
The group held public poetry readings and issued several samizdat collections and a magazine, Sfinksy ("Sphynxes"). In 1965, they revived their literary meetings at Mayakovsky Square (Mayakovsky Square poetry readings).
Some members also helped organize the unsanctioned 1965 glasnost rally calling for a legal trial of writers Andrei Sinyavsky and Yuli Daniel.
The group was under pressure from the state. Its last poetry reading took place on April 14, 1966.
References
Bibliography
External links