The photo was taken in February 1981 in the town of Beryozovsky, Kemerovo Oblast, where artistic evenings and meetings during the “Days of Soviet Literature” festival were held in Kuzbass. Robert Rozhdestvensky headed a large group of writers and poets. Back then he held the position of the board secretary of the Writers’ Union of the USSR. The delegation had an itinerary, which included public meetings at the Kemerovo State University and the “Azot” Plant, as well as events in different cities of the Kemerovo Oblast. One of the events was captured on the photo from the museum collection.

An interesting moment once happened during one of the meetings — a little-known episode. It is associated with Peter Dorofeev’s name, secretary of the Kemerovo regional committee of the CPSU (Communist Party of the Soviet Union) for ideology. Robert Rozhdestvensky recited his “Baikal Ballad” at the meeting with readers at the new building of the Kemerovo Regional Philharmonic Hall.

The ballad was about some acute social issues, and the poet deliberately omitted some fragments, believing that he could be misunderstood and a scandal could emerge. As a result, after the Readings were over, many participants of the meeting witnessed an unusual scene: Dorofeev lashed out at Rozhdestvensky near a locker room and reproached him. “Why did you skip this part…” he asked. And he recited the entire passage by heart. Usually self-sufficient and dignified, Robert Ivanovich this time was embarrassed and stunned. It is highly unlikely that he had ever met a party official with such unique memory, who sincerely loved poetry at the same time.

In addition, during the literary festival days, Rozhdestvensky visited the Kolchuginskaya mine, one of the most famous Kuzbass mines, which annually produced over two million tons of coal. The poet went down a shaft together with the director of the mine administration. At the end of the “Days of Soviet Literature” event in Kuzbass, the final meeting with readers was held at the Novokuznetsk Theater named after S. Ordzhonikidze.