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Tom Stoppard's epic trilogy The Coast of Utopia, a deeply compelling drama of passion, politics and betrayal, chronicles the lives of the Russian dissident gentry who catalyzed the transformation of tsarist Russia. For this issue, we sought passionate, witty and insightful writers who could illuminate the beauty, complexity and resounding humanity of Voyage, Shipwreck and Salvage.
Tom Stoppard's essay on how he came to write The Coast of Utopia ushers us into this issue, which explores the human struggle for perfection-in politics and in love. Margaret Atwood, whose remarkable novels The Handmaid's Tale and Oryx and Crake epitomize the importance of dystopian fiction,
discusses the quest for utopia. Noted scholar Charles Beye takes us inside the cabal of men who dared to imagine a new Russia. Paul Rudnick ruminates on God, celebrity culture and the best way to be in the modern age in his hilarious take on Isaiah Berlin's essay The Fox and the Hedgehog, which inspired Stoppard to begin the trilogy. Jeanne Fuchs, a professor of French literature, elucidates George Sand's influence on women's roles and social mores in the nineteenth century. Cultural critic John Rockwell chronicles the tension between the political alliances and love affairs of the Romantic exiles. The noted contemporary Russian author Tatyana Tolstaya reflects on her family's legacy and on the Russian tendency to imagine more perfect versions of history. In his essay on how literature shapes our national identity, Scottish novelist Andrew O'Hagan writes, "Nations are not born, they are invented." His piece, and this issue, celebrates the power of the written word, which enables us to slip across borders, incite riots, ignite revolutions and determine our future. It is through our literature that we are able to dream of reaching the unreachable shores of Utopia.
- The Editors
For more information and to purchase tickets, visit
The Coast of Utopia Website.
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