Russian Thick Journals

Nash Sovremennik Digital Archive (1933-2024)

Nash Sovremennik (Наш современник, Our Contemporary), a literary periodical of the Soviet and post-Soviet period, was founded in Moscow in 1956, having evolved from the literary journal Al’manakh (Альманах, Almanac), established by Maxim Gorky and published from 1933 to 1955 (suspended from 1940 to 1947 due to WWII).

Published under the auspices of the RSFSR Union of Writers, Nash Sovremennik was a pioneer in finding talent from the Russian glubinka and remote provinces, providing these writers with an important literary platform unavailable elsewhere. As a result, the journal came to be associated with the so-called “village” or “provincial prose,” with some of its most important representatives being such writers as Fyodor Abramov, Viktor Astafyev, Vasily Belov, and Vasily Shukshin, among others. Since 1989, the journal has been led by Stanislav Kunyayev and has become an important literary and journalistic vehicle for Russian conservatives and traditionalists, attracting such political and literary figures as Gennadi Zyuganov, Nikolay Ryzhkov, Sergey Kara-Murza, Aleksandr Prokhanov, Zakhar Prilepin, and the controversial late Metropolital Ioann (Snychev). Read more: eastview.com/nash-sovremennik

Oktiabr’ Digital Archive (1924-2018)

Oktiabr’ (Октябрь, October) served as a crucial platform for both established and emerging voices in Russian literature. Throughout its history, the journal published works by literary giants such as Sergei Yesenin, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Mikhail Zoshchenko, and Andrei Platonov, alongside international authors including Lion Feuchtwanger, Romain Rolland, and Theodore Dreiser. The archive captures the journal’s evolution from its early years through the Soviet period and into post-Soviet Russia, reflecting the dramatic changes in Russian society and intellectual thought. Read more: eastview.com/oktiabr

Znamia Digital Archive (1931-2024)

Znamia (Знамя, Banner) spans over nine decades and serves as a treasure trove of intellectual and artistic contributions. This lively platform for literature, critical analysis, philosophy, and at times, political commentary is published monthly.

Originally launched in January 1931 under the name LOKAF (Локаф), an acronym for the Literary Association of the Red Army and Navy, the journal was officially rebranded as Znamia in 1933. Throughout its history, Znamia has been a pivotal venue for showcasing the works of preeminent authors such as Anna Akhmatova, Alexander Tvardovsky, Yevgeny Yevtushenko, Konstantin Paustovsky, Yuri Kazakov, and Yuri Trifonov. In the era of perestroika, beginning in 1986, Znamia underwent a significant transformation, evolving into one of Russia’s most widely read literary journals and serving as a herald of the perestroika movement. Read more: eastview.com/znamia

Zvezda Digital Archive (1924-2024)

Founded in 1924 in Petrograd (later Leningrad, now St. Petersburg), Zvezda (Звезда, The Star) has been a key resource of Russian intellectual and literary circles for a century. The journal’s longevity and resilience through tumultuous periods of Soviet history, including the Siege of Leningrad and Stalinist repression, make it an essential resource for understanding the complexities of Russian cultural development over the past century. Read more: eastview.com/zvezda

Moskva Digital Archive (1957-2024)

Moskva (Москва, Moscow) maintains a section called “Home Church,” which introduces readers to religious values, unique among thick journals. Moskva holds particular historical significance as the first publisher of Mikhail Bulgakov’s masterpiece The Master and Margarita and Nikolai Karamzin’s monumental work History of the Russian State. Its pages have featured outstanding works of Russian literature by authors such as Bunin, Sholokhov, and Yulian Semyonov, alongside acclaimed international writers including Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Ernest Hemingway, and William Faulkner.

Neva Digital Archive (1955-2024)

Neva (Нева, Neva), throughout its history, has remained faithful to the traditions of Petersburg literary journalism. In every issue users will find a balanced mix of contemporary prose and poetry—alongside tightly documented essays and reviews. Neva’s pages have featured works by such luminaries as Mikhail Zoshchenko, Mikhail Sholokhov, Viktor Kaverin, Lydia Chukovskaya, Lev Gumilev, Dmitry Likhachev, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Dmitry Granin and Viktor Dudintsev, among others. Neva was the first Russian journal to publish Robert Conquest’s exposé on the Great Terror and Arthur Koestler’s novel Darkness at Noon. In addition, Neva premiered Dudintsev’s White Clothes, a novel that became emblematic of post-Stalinist literary debates.

Druzhba Narodov Digital Archive (1939-2024)

Druzhba narodov (Дружба народов, People’s Friendship) first appeared in March 1939 as an almanac dedicated to bringing literature from the Soviet republics into a common Russian-language forum. From its earliest issues, the journal’s mission was to introduce readers in Moscow and Leningrad to prose and poetry written in Uzbek, Georgian, Armenian, and other languages of the USSR—always rendered into Russian to foster a sense of shared cultural space.

IUnost Digital Archive (1955-2024)

A literary magazine for family reading highlighting prose, poetry and journalistic writing, and which featured Valentin Kataev as its first editor-in-chief. Very popular among Soviet intellectual elite, IUnost’ (Юность, Youth) appealed to the young readership, and contained an impressive poetry section. This publication also featured the significant, and occasionally controversial, works of Akhmatova, Akhmadulina, Okudzhava, Rozhdestvensky, Iskander, Aksyonov, Gladilin, and many others.

Molodaia Gvardiia Digital Archive (1922-2024)

Molodaia gvardiia (Молодая гвардия, Young  Guard) launched in Moscow in May 1922 under the Central Committee of the  Russian Communist Youth Union. From the start, its mission was both literary and ideological: alongside luminaries like Sergei Yesenin, Vladimir Mayakovsky, and Dmitry Furmanov, it published fiction, poetry, and art aimed at boosting literacy and reinforcing revolutionary values. Across every era—from the fervent post-Revolution years and Stalinist pressures through Khrushchev’s Thaw, Brezhnev’s stagnation, perestroika, and into today’s Russian Federation—Molodaia Gvardia has stayed true to promoting Russian patriotism, Orthodox values, and respect for cultural traditions.

Novyi Mir Digital Archive (1925-2024)

Novyi Mir (Новый мир, New World) is a Russian literary magazine that won international fame under its editor Aleksandr Tvardovskii in the 1960s, when Solzhenitsyn’s One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich was published. It became a watershed moment that signaled a brief liberal turn during Khrushchev’s Thaw.  In the late 1980s, as glasnost took hold, Novyi Mir became the first Soviet journal to run previously banned masterpieces—Pasternak’s Doctor Zhivago, Platonov’s Kotlovan, Orwell’s 1984, and  Solzhenitsyn’s The Gulag Archipelago—sending its circulation soaring to over 2.6 million copies for the January 1990 issue.