The monograph “Literary Penza” by the writer and literature scholar Oleg Savin takes pride of place in the Penza Literature Museum. The book was donated to the museum by the writer’s widow Maria Leonidovna Savina.
The book explores the great history of the Penza region, as well as the life and works of writers from the Sura land. The monograph is based on archival and printed materials, unique literary and historical documents. It was the reference book used by the curators of the Penza Oblast Association of State Literature and Memorial Museums when designing the Penza Literature Museum.
Oleg Mikhailovich Savin was a Russian writer, poet, literature scholar, local historian, and journalist. He became a Candidate of Philological Sciences in 1979, a member of the Union of Soviet Journalists in 1958, and of the Union Soviet of Writers in 1977. He was also awarded the title of Honored Worker of Culture of the Russian Federation in 1993 and won the All-Russian Mikhail Lermontov Award. Oleg Savin was born in Ovino, Leningrad Oblast, in 1933 but considered Penza to be his second home. The city on the Sura River is the subject of many of his works on local history and research articles on history and literature. He wrote over 50 books about the history of the Penza land. Oleg Savin constantly explored the literature, theater, art, and history of the Russian provinces. Many famous personalities, including Pushkin, Lenin, Radishchev, Saltykov-Shchedrin, and the Decembrists, were connected to Penza in some way. The works of Oleg Savin are characterized by a meticulous documentary approach, an adherence to facts, and an encyclopedic outlook. He studied archival materials and the memoirs of his contemporaries. Although his books contain a lot of facts, they are exciting and easy to read.
