Magnetic North: Conversations with Tomas Venclova is a book in the European tradition of works such as Conversations with Czeslaw Milosz and Aleksander Wat's classic My Century. The book interweaves Eastern European postwar history, dissidence, and literature. Venclova, who personally knew Akhmatova, Pasternak, Milosz, Brodsky, and many others, was also one of the five founding members of the Lithuanian Helsinki Group. Magnetic North provides an in-depth account of ethical choices and artistic resistance to totalitarianism over a half century. It also details Venclova's artistic work, expanding our understanding of the significance of this writer, whosebooks are central to contemporary European culture. Tomas Venclova is a Lithuanian poet, writer, scholar, and translator. He is Professor Emeritus of Slavic Languages and Literatures at Yale University. Ellen Hinsey isa poet and essayist. Her most recent book is Mastering the Past: Contemporary Central and Eastern Europe and the Rise of Illiberalism.

Acknowledgments
Chronology
Map of Lithuania
Introduction: Magnetic North, Iron and Grace - Ellen Hinsey
Part One
1. Childhood and Family
2. The Soviets: 1939-1941
3. War Years: 1941-1944
4. Return of the Soviets
5. Postwar and Culture
6. Gymnasium
7. Antanas Venclova
8. Vilnius University
9. 1956 and Khrushchev's Secret Speech
Part Two
10. Boris Pasternak
11. Study Group and the KGB
12. Moscow: 1961-1964
13. Anna Akhmatova
14. Sign of Speech
15. Joseph Brodsky
16. Civil Society and Dissidence
17. The Lithuanian and Moscow Helsinki Groups
18. Preparation for Exile
Part Three
19. Czeslaw Milosz and Berkeley
20. Travels: Exile as Good Luck
21. The Junction: Poems
Notes
Works by Tomas Venclova
Index of Names