Tamara Vardomskaya

Tamarapic

Welcome to the website of Tamara Vardomskaya, speculative fiction writer. Links to my current publications and information about future publications can be found here.

I received my Ph.D in theoretical linguistics from the University of Chicago in June of 2018.  If you would like to read my dissertation, Sources of Subjectivity, you may download it here (it is also available on ProQuest): Vardomskaya-Thesis-May-2018

For a while I worked as a linguist for Amazon Alexa Data Services. I currently work for the Canadian Intellectual Property Office.

If you are interested in reading Russian (mostly Silver Age – 1890-1930) poetry in translation, please go here. If instead of lyrical, serious and beautiful poetry written by other people, you prefer silly verse pastiches written by me, please go here.

For my presentation at Can*Con 2016 on Linguistics For SF Writers, click here: vardomskaya-cancon-presentation

For my presentation at Scintillation 2018 on Linguistic Myths and Fictions in Myth and Fiction, click here: Vardomskaya Scintillation Presentation.

12 thoughts on “Tamara Vardomskaya”

  1. Hi Tamara,
    I have been following the daily posts from Pushkin House (Project 1917) which have been following the events in Russia – 1917. Although I started with political interest, I’ve also really enjoyed the entries from poets, writers, artists etc. One of the contributors quoted is Elizaveta Kuzmina-Karavaeva. Do you know much about her life and works and is there good source material on her?

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  3. Hi Tamara,
    I don’t know if you can help me here, but I thought it worth trying. I have been trying to find a descriptive grammar of Pashayi (an endangered Indo-Aryan language of eastern Afghanistan) that was written as a PhD dissertation at the University of Chicago by Rachel Lehr. Wikipedia dates the dissertation as 2014, but I don’t know if that’s the exact year of graduation for the author.

    I tried looking for the grammar on Amazon and elsewhere, if it had been published, but found nothing. And I also also tried locating the author to ask her myself, but no luck so far.

    Since you too were a PhD student at UChicago, I was wondering if you would have Dr. Lehr’s contact, or at least, be able to point me someplace where I can get the grammar to read.

    Thanks,
    Sāmapriẏa.

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  5. Hello Tamara,

    If you would be so kind to also send me a copy of Rachel Lehr’s book on Pashai, I would be very thankful.

    Regards,
    Raz

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  6. Hi, I saw that you had one poem by Zinaida Gippius. I’m writing a book about Rusalki, and wanted to show various literary works that most books ignore. I read the Gippius wrote a poem called “Rusalka” to the poet Poliksena Solovieva, and in it she makes allusions to lesbianism. Have you run across this poem anywhere? Even if it’s in Russian, I could get it translated. Thank you.

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  7. Disregard previous comment. Of course, I ended up finding it after leaving the first comment, even though I’ve been looking for ages. 🙂

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  8. I am really sorry, somehow the notification there was a comment in May never reached me and I only see this in August. I can still look into it if you wish.

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  9. Dear Tamara Vardomskaya,

    I’m Kata Szászvárosi from Hungary, i’m a classical musician, a singer. I recently recorded a video of Sergei Prokofiev’s 5 songs on Anna Akhmatova’s poems, wich i intend to upload on Youtube. In the description of the video i want to paste the english translation of the fifth song (The grey-eyed king), because i want people to understand the lyrics. I found your translation very good, and i want to ask your permission to use it the way i described. Is this possible, is it ok for you? Can i use your transcription?

    Best regards,

    Kata Szászvárosi

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  11. Dear Tamara Vardomskaya,

    I am Kristine Bejanyan, PhD, associate professor, Head of the Department of Foreign and Comparative Literature and Theory of Literature, M. Abeghyan Institute of Literature of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia, the associate professor of the Department of Foreign Literature, Kh. Abovyan Armenian State Pedagogical University, Yerevan.

    I received my PhD in 2007, dissertation entitled “V.Brusov and England”. I have been studying Silver age poetry since then and recently have come across your translation of “Don Juan” in https://ruverses.com/valery-bryusov/don-juan/1077/

    As I am going to make a report in forthcoming scientific conference “Brusov Readings” and to make your translation (which I find a very good one) the subject of my article that reveals the descrepacy and ecquivalence with the original and with another translation done by Bonver.

    Thus I have two questions:

    Can I use your translation (and of other poems I found in https://vardomskaya.com/tag/poetry-in-translation/page/2/ ) as it is openly cited?

    Have you other translations of Brusov’s poetry (I am making an antology of Brusov’s poetry in English and can use them if you let me do it)?

    And may you give some more information about you I will write it to present as the only thing I could find is that you live in Canada and translated 40 poems by Vysotsky and some of Gumilyov’s.

    I am looking forward to your reply

    Best regards;

    Kristine

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  12. Dear Kristine,

    Lovely! Yes, I do give permission to use the ones on the website, in your report, definitely.

    Please email me at the Gmail address tvardo to discuss more about the anthology. I may not have any more Brusov right now, but the reason is that I tend to cycle through my artistic pursuits, and would go on binges of translating a lot of poetry in a month, then wait several years while I draw, write fiction, do music, etc.

    And it’s interesting that you say there is nothing on me, as I thought, much as I loathe LinkedIn as a platform, my LinkedIn profile is pretty up to date on what I actually do to earn money. linkedin.com/in/tamara-vardomskaya-23b071126/ In short, these days I am a Canadian civil servant in the IT sphere (but am looking to switch), who runs a small classical music festival in Calgary on the side.

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