Wanderers

The collection features plays by Vladimir Nabokov, written in Crimea, England, Germany, and France from 1918 to 1924. All of them, especially "Wanderers," "Death," and "Pole," in their own way determined the poetic and prose experiments of the future famous writer. In these early plays, one can find everything that distinguishes the style of the author of "Lolita" and "Ada" and prompts a deeper interest in re-reading his works: a peculiar form, dramatic tension, a hidden second level, precision in the depiction of characters and settings, and a wealth of metaphors. The play "In Spring" and the complete text of "The Speech of Pozdnishev," leaning toward the genre of dramatic monologue, are published for the first time. The publication is accompanied by a detailed article and comments that recreate the circumstances of the composition of the plays and reveal their literary sources.