From Tanta to Cairo … Frolov Challenges Coronavirus with Poetry

The Russian Cultural Center in Cairo, headed by "Marat Gatin", hosted a classical evening for the great Russian poet "Alexander Frolov".

This came within the framework of the activities of the year of humanitarian cooperation between Egypt and Russia;  in cooperation with the Egyptian Association of Alumni of Russian and Soviet Universities.

The evening was attended by Marina Sheveleva, Counselor of the Belarus Embassy, ​​Sherif Gad, President of the Alumni Association, Director of Cultural Activity at the Russian Center and translator Ahmed Salah El-Din, along with a group of critics and a number of Russian language students.

"Frolov" expressed his happiness to visit Egypt and participate in the Tanta Poetry Festival, and thanked the festival management and its president, poet Mahmoud Sharaf, as he had the opportunity to participate among a group of Egyptian and foreign poets, and he was pleased with the Egyptian public's reception of his poems and interaction with them.

He confirms that the Egyptian people have always been a connoisseur of arts, regardless its nationality.

Frolov, who has more than eight poetry collections published, is a member of the Russian Writers Union and has received several literary prizes.

On his part, Gatin stated that the evening activated and enriched the year of humanitarian cooperation between Egypt and Russia, as such literary, despite its rarity, is of great importance. Sheveleva also indicated her happiness to attend the evening and get acquainted with the poems of Frolov.

Gad said that Frolov's visit is of great importance, adding that throughout history, poets' who visited Egypt were few, and 'I recall the visit of the great poet Yevtushenko in the sixties and the poet Rasul Gamzatov, whom I personally accompanied'.

He stressed that the dream of getting to know Russian poetry more and more is increasing due to the presence of skilled translators such as Salah El-Din, who mastered the professional translation of verses.

While the poet "Mahmoud Sharaf" praised Frolov's participation in the Tanta Poetry Festival, where he was chosen to give the poets' speech at the opening, and his participation was characterized by intimacy in communicating with the participants and the audience enjoyed his poems.

Salah al-Din indicated that the reason for choosing to translate Frolov's works is due to the fact that he lived in the Soviet Union and began to realize himself as a poet in the eighties and was able to publish his first works, and after the collapse of the Union he was able to pass this difficult stage and defend his art and did not abandon it.

"Frolov is an artistic model that connects the two eras and is now considered one of the big names in Russia who was able to express the human being and the simple feelings and details of life," Salah al-Din added.

It is worth mentioning that during the evening, "Alexander Frolov" presented a brief about his literary history and his life's journey, during which he occupied 17 professions besides poetry in order to face the costs of living.

Finally, Frolov presented the center's library with a collection of his poetic collection.