A. Solzhenitsyn Ryazan, December 12, 1968"

[11]

SUMMARY OF THE MEETING OF THE RYAZAN

WRITERS' ORGANIZATION NOVEMBER 4, 1969

(The meeting lasted from 3 p.m. to 4.30 p.m.)

Six of the seven members of the Ryazan Writers' Organization were present (the secretary of the Ryazan branch, Ernst Safonov, went to the operation); Secretary of the Union of Writers of the RSFSR - F. N. Taurin; Secretary for Agitation and Propaganda of the Ryazan Regional Committee of the CPSU - Alexander Sergeevich Kozhevnikov; the editor of the publishing house Povarenkin and three other comrades from regional organizations.

This recording during the meeting was kept by Solzhenitsyn.

On the agenda there is one announced issue: "Information of the Secretary of the Union of Writers of the RSFSR Taurin on the decision of the Secretariat of the Union of Writers of the RSFSR "On measures to strengthen ideological and educational work among writers".

The information itself does not take much time, F. Taurin reads the decision of the secretariat of the Union of Writers of the RSFSR, caused by the escape of A. Kuznetsov abroad, indicating new measures to strengthen control over writers traveling abroad, as well as measures for the ideological education of writers. He reports that similar meetings have already been held in many regional writers' organizations and were held at a high level, especially in the Moscow Writers' Organization, where charges were brought against Lydia Chukovskaya, Lev Kopelev, Bulat Okudzhava, as well as against a member of the Ryazan organization of the SP - Solzhenitsyn.

Debate (time limit - 10 minutes)

Vasily Matushkin (member of the Union of Writers, Ryazan). After a few general phrases about the state of the Ryazan organization: "I cannot but mention Comrade Solzhenitsyn's attitude to literature and to our writers' organization. There is also my responsibility: I once gave him a recommendation when entering the Writers' Union. Thus, when I criticize him today, I also criticize myself. When "Ivan Denisovich" appeared, not everything in it was immediately accepted, many things in it were not liked. But after the reviews by Simonov and Tvardovsky, we could not argue. Still, we had hopes that Solzhenitsyn would become an adornment of our writers' organization. These hopes did not come true. Take his attitude to our writers' organization. For all these years - no participation. True, he attended re-election meetings, but did not speak. Assistance to young writers is one of our most important duties according to the charter, he did not provide it, did not participate in discussions of the works of novice authors. He had no work. There is an opinion and pain that he is arrogant about our writers' organization and our small achievements in literature. I will say honestly and frankly that all his latest work (although we do not know him, have not read him, we have not been invited to the discussion) runs counter to what we, the others, write. For us, there is a Motherland, and there is nothing more expensive. And Solzhenitsyn's work is published abroad, and all this is then poured out in our homeland. When our mother is poured with mud, using his works, and Alexander Isayevich is given instructions on how to respond, and even an article was published in the "Literaturnaya Gazeta", and he did not react, considering himself smarter.

Sergei Baranov (chairman): Your time limit is over, 10 minutes.

Matushkin asks for more.

Solzhenitsyn - To give as much as a comrade asks (extend).