Out of the Blue: Russia's Hidden Gay Literature : An Anthology

by Kevin Moss (editor), Simon Karlinsky (Introduction)

Book by

Genres: Russia, LGBT, Poetry, Russian Literature, Queer, Gay, Nonfiction

415 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[Bryn Hammond · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was most interested in the Golden Age (19th century) and Silver Age (here called Early 20th Century). Discoveries for me -- aside from Gogol, who I didn't know was gay -- were in the Silver Age, a wild and wonderful time in Russian writing that I have to further explore. Fifty pages were well-spent on Mikhail Kuzmin, short stories, poetry cycles, diary; I have immediately ordered his Selected Prose & Poetry. In Underground and Emigre (Soviets), excerpts from the diary of Ryurik Ivnev were beautifully written and moving, while extracts from an unfinished epic novel around the 1917 revolution by Georgy Ivanov made me regret lost brilliance...

The introduction on Russia's Gay Literature and History by Simon Karlinsky (https://senate.universityofcalifornia...) I have spotted archived elsewhere, if you want to do a search online.

Excuse the 90s cover!

[Ivo · Rating 5 out of 5]

While the actual quality of the writing varies, I love this book for the sheer diversity of the content and the amazing insight it provides into intimate Russian gay life throughout the years. I'm sure I'll be returning to this soon and often, and I strongly recommend it.

[York · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent and comprehensive anthology of gay men's literature in Russia, this book combines fiction, memoir, and magazine publications along with nonfiction introductory sections detailing a history of gay men in print and public. My personal favorite was the reprint of several anonymous letters sent to a gay magazine in the 90s; the erotic flavor it captured has been echoing in my head for almost a year now. An excellent read for anyone looking to understand how gayness has always existed in the Russophere.

[Liam Ostermann · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is important to recognise and celebrate this anthology as a unique contribution to broadening our understanding of Russia's 'gay' history and literature thus of 'gay' history and literature in general. It is also one of several unique and important anthologies of 'gay' literature from other cultures that Gay Sunshine Press gave to the world. Although gays in many English speaking countries owe a huge debt to Gay Sunshine Press it is debt rarely acknowledged even in the USA. Although San Francisco, its home, is acknowledged as an important centre in the history of gay liberation it is not seen as being a publishing/cultural force to rival New York. It is one of the many examples of New provincialism I could mention.

The fact that nearly thirty years after its publication (as of September 2025) it remains the only English language anthology of 'gay' Russian writing makes is, to me, incomprehensible, and that it has never been republished and so is expensive and difficult to get hold of in print shocking.

So it remains essential reading for anyone interested in Russian literature, culture and history but that doesn't mean it is without faults. Most specifically it doesn't begin to reflect current 'gay' life and its difficulties in Putin's Russia. Things have changed, and not for the better, for LGBT+ people in the Soviet Union. I also imagine that what is known about Russia's gay past and literature has advanced since 1996 but the percolation of that knowledge down from academia to the general public has not kept pace that 'Out of the Blue' seemed to promise.

I wanted more, but it is all we have and it is a great accomplishment - that no press, university or otherwise, has felt the need or been able to muster the resources to create a rival anthology, shows just how much is owed to GSP.