Russian Writers Discuss USSR Book Censorship

Three Russian authors who have been touring the United States for the last three weeks discussed Russian censorship of writers (they insisted there was none), Robert Frost (they loved him), and English translations of Russian works (they don't like prefaces) at a news conference Wednesday.

The Russians, Valentin Katayev, Viktor Rozov, and Frida Lurye, are on a 30-day visit to this country under the U.S.-Soviet cultural exchange agreement.

Although obviously annoyed at repeated attempts by reporters to unearth instances of censorship by the Russian government, the writers calmly insisted that there were no restrictions placed on their work.

"Strange Interpretation"

Katayev labeled as a "strange interpretation" any attempt to discern in Khrushchev's recent attack on modern art any limitation on freedom of expression. "Khrushchev's statement applied specifically to art; it did not carry over to the theatre, writing, or any other area," he said. "And," quipped Rozov, "why shouldn't we argue about abstract art?"

Even a spoof of communism would be permitted on the Russian stage, said Katayev, but "the audience would pelt the author with apples. The public likes communism."

After defending their own freedom of expression, the Soviet authors criticized American translations of Russian works. "Why can't translators just translate? Why do they have to write prefaces to interpret the work as a criticism of Russia?" asked Miss Lurye. "The only lucky thing, thank God, is that most people don't read prefaces," Rozov said.

Translation Problem

The three Russians agreed that translating works in both languages posed a major problem, especially for poetry. "As Robert Frost has said, 'Poetry is what's lost in translation,'" Miss Lurye commented. "However, there are many talented translators in both countries."

Miss Lurye and the two men had nothing but praise for Frost whom they had met the day before. "Meeting him is one of the brightest memories I'm going to carry back with me. Robert Frost is a Man with a capital M, and also a genius--the two are closely interwoven," she said.

Asked if he would write a book about America, Rozov replied, "I think anyone who has been in a country for only one month and tries to write a serious book is not too serious a person."