Irina Ratushinskaya's guest appearances

Irina Ratushinskaya

Witness History

Rewrite Radio

Witness History: Witness Archive 2016

Witness History: Witness Archive 2017

Zadie Smith

Madeleine L'Engle

Oscar Romero

Jane Fonda

Alfred Hitchcock

John Muir

Shauna Niequist

Barbara Brown Taylor

Elie Wiesel

Dani Shapiro

Jeff Zentner

George Saunders

Jacqueline Woodson

Alexander Hamilton

Yann Martel

OwlTail

Mikhail Gorbachev

Mikhail Gorbachev - the last leader of the Soviet Union - has died aged 91. On the eve of an important summit on nuclear disarmament between the Soviet Union and America in October 1986, Gorbachev ordered the release of a dissident poet called Irina Ratushinskaya.In 2012, Louise Hidalgo spoke to Irina about her imprisonment, her poetry, and the day she was set free.(Photo: Irina and her husband Igor, arriving in London in December 1986. Credit: Topfoto)

Mikhail Gorbachev - the last leader of the Soviet Union - has died aged 91. On the eve of an important summit on nuclear disarmament between the Soviet Union and America in October 1986, Gorbachev ordered the release of a dissident poet called Irina Ratushinskaya. In 2012, Louise Hidalgo spoke to Irina about her imprisonment, her poetry, and the day she was set free. (Photo: Irina and her husband Igor, arriving in London in December 1986. Credit: Topfoto)

Mikhail Gorbachev: Release of Irina Ratushinskaya

Today, we have something a little different in store for you. Russian poet, author and activist Irina Ratushinskaya passed away earlier this summer, and as we dug into the Festival archives, we knew we wanted to celebrate her life and work with a special episode. Irina spoke at the 1998 Festival of Faith &amp; Writing ten years after her release from a Russian prison camp, and we’ve pulled several different recordings from that weekend.

#21: Irina Ratushinskaya 1998

The dissident poet was sentenced to 7 years in a Soviet Labour camp.  She suffered from cold, malnutrition and harsh treatment,  but she continued to write poems secretly. She was released on the eve of a nuclear summit between the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and US President Ronald Reagan in 1986.  Irina Ratushinskaya died on July 5th 2017.  She spoke to Louise Hidalgo for Witness in 2016.(Photo: Irina and her husband Igor, arriving in London in December 1986. Credit: Topfoto)

The dissident poet was sentenced to 7 years in a Soviet Labour camp. She suffered from cold, malnutrition and harsh treatment, but she continued to write poems secretly. She was released on the eve of a nuclear summit between the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and US President Ronald Reagan in 1986. Irina Ratushinskaya died on July 5th 2017. She spoke to Louise Hidalgo for Witness in 2016. (Photo: Irina and her husband Igor, arriving in London in December 1986. Credit: Topfoto)

The Imprisonment of Irina Ratushinskaya

On 9 October 1986 the dissident poet was released from a prison camp on the eve of a US-Soviet nuclear summit between Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan. Irina Ratushinskaya has been speaking to Louise Hidalgo about her imprisonment, her poetry, and the day she was set free.(Photo: Irina and her husband Igor, arriving in London in December 1986. Credit: Topfoto)

On 9 October 1986 the dissident poet was released from a prison camp on the eve of a US-Soviet nuclear summit between Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan. Irina Ratushinskaya has been speaking to Louise Hidalgo about her imprisonment, her poetry, and the day she was set free. (Photo: Irina and her husband Igor, arriving in London in December 1986. Credit: Topfoto)