Ancient and original cultural traditions of the Vologda Oblast are fully embodied in literature. Up to the 1940s the region was a kind of a powerhouse of folklore. Throughout two centuries specialists in folklore from all over Russia came to the oblast's remote places to record fables and fairy-tales, historical legends, rites and traditional ceremonies, poems and children's works. The Vologda folklore is represented in all Russian collections, the renowned collection of fairy-tales by A.Afanasiev and collection of Russian epic by P.Rybnikov among them. Moreover, the region has no analogues in the history of Russian folklore to the number and literary merit of descriptions of a wedding rite in peasant families.

Highly-developed folklore traditions made an impact on the Old Russian literature. Some chronicles and annals recounting the development of the Russian history and local events are kept in the Kirillo-Belozersky monastery. Enduring works of the local writers - novels, short stories, poems, plays and biographies illuminate events and trends of the past and allow readers to "witness" them. Diverse voices - such as those belonging to revolutionaries, women, the clergy - reveal the richness and complexity of Russia's history.

Owing to some historical, economic and political reasons traditional peasant ideology dominated in the region up to the beginning of the 20th century. The penury of the Vologda literature in the 18th-19th centuries accounts for lack of serfdom on the territory of the region, and consequently absence of the nobility that introduced European culture in Russia. But the poet Konstantin Batyushkov (1787-1855) born into a prominent noble family is an exception.

The son of a gubernia prosecutor, Batyushkov grew up in Danilovskoye, graduating from a private boarding school of St.Petersburg. As a poet he made his debut in 1805. Then he joined a volunteer corps fighting against Napoleon but saw little action. He was seriously wounded. The lyrical and expressive poetry written by Batyushkov is well-known today. He made a tangible contribution to the Russian literature and in the post-war period (the war against Sweden) K.Batyushkov gained success and fame as Russia's first poet.

Another line of literature development - a theological one - is represented in the works by Dmitry Bryanchaninov who is known by the name of Ignaty. He became an archimandrite and later a bishop. The last years of his life Ignaty spent in the Nikolo-Babaisky monastery on the Volga river. His main work "Ascetic Experience" is popular with the Orthodox believers at present. The fact that in 1988 Ignaty Bryanchaninov was canonized on the occasion of 1000th anniversary of christianity of Rus testifies to the contribution he made and literary merit of his works.

For many years the literary life of the Vologda Region was affected by political exile. The number of the literary men exiled to the Vologda Oblast is quite considerable - the critic and prose writer N.Nadezhdin (1804-1856), a group of revolutionaries that were also famous in the world of letters N.Berdyaev, A.Bogdanov-Malinovsky, A.Lunacharsky, A.Remizov, B.Savinkov and P.Shchyogolev. It was during the exile in Vologda that A.Remizov (1877-1907) became a famous writer combining in his works both folklore and modernist style. Critics believe he began a new genre.

Some other poets and novelists that rank high among the popular Russian writers lived and worked in Vologda and the nearby cities and towns. The poet Igor Severyanin (1887-1941) spent his childhood in Cherepovets. The outstanding Russian novelist A.Kuprin (1870-1938) lived for some time in the village of Danilovskoye 15 km off Ustyuzhna. The works by N.Klyuev (1884-1937), a Vyregra-born, represent new Russian populist tendency. In his poetry Klyuev conveyed historical and religious ideas of peasants.

The great Russian writer Varlam Shalamov (1907-1982) was born in Vologda and lived here untill 1924. His "Kolyma Tales" describing tragic life of those imprisoned in the concentration camps are well known all over the world. Another book of his "Fourth Vologda" is lyrical and moving.

In the 1960s the critics began talking about Vologda school as part of the more general trend of "country literature" recognizing A.Yashin as the father of it, not only for his remarkable contributions as a poet, but also for the great influence he had on his contemporaries. Alexander Yashin (1913 - 1988) was the first author who told the truth about the Soviet village and dwelt on traditional peasant culture and the destiny of peasants.

Among the most outstanding Russian poets and writers coming from Vologda are K.Batyushkov, V.Gilyarovsky, P.Zasodimsky, N.Klyuev, I.Severyanin, V.Tendryakov, A.Yashin, S.Orlov, N.Rubtsov, V.Shalamov, O.Fokina, V.Belov and some others.

Konstantin Batyushkov (1787 - 1855)
Born in Vologda. A great Russian poet, teacher of A.Pushkin. He was a prose writer, essayist and publicist, but he became famous as a poet. There are two museums of K.Batyushkov in the Vologda Oblast: one is situated in Vologda and the other - in the Batyushkovs' patrimonial estate Danilovskoe. The grave of K.Batyushkov is located in the Prilutsky Monastery near Vologda.

Vladimir Gilyarovsky (1853 - 1935)
Born in a small village near Vologda. Writer and journalist. Famous for his stories, essays and memoirs.
1860 - entered the Vologda College.
He was acquainted with L.Tolstoy, A.Chekhov, M.Gorky, I.Bunin, A.Kuprin, I.Repin.

Pavel Zasodimsky (1848 - 1912)
Born in Veliky Ustyug. Wrote romantic stories, poems and stories for children. Many of his stories are connected with the village of Gorky near Sokol. The Museum of P.Zasodimsky is situated in a village school in Gorky.

Nikolay Klyuev (1884 - 1937)
Born in a small village near the town of Vytegra. Poet and essayist. His poems reflect his love for nature, native land and people. He was in opposition to revolutionists, that's why he was criticized by the Bolsheviks.
The museum of N.Klyuev is situated in the town of Vytegra.

Igor Severyanin (1887 - 1941)
Born in Cherepovets. Famous Russian poet of the so-called Silver Age.
He wrote not only poems, but also translated some works of foreign writers into Russian.

Vladimir Tendryakov (1923 - 1984)
Born near the village of Verkhovazhye. Wrote prose and essays.
After the Great Patriotic War he worked as a journalist in Vologda. His novels and stories make people think about the spiritual life of the society.

Alexander Yashin (1913 - 1968)
Born in a small village near the town of Nikolsk. Wrote prose and poems. He studied philology and literature at the Vologda Teachers Training Institute. Then he studied literature in Moscow.
In the 1950s, 1960s most of his poems were published.

Sergei Orlov (1921 - 1977)
Born in the village of Megra near Belozersk. Poet. He began to write poems when he was a schoolboy. 1950s, 1960s - his poems were published. Nowadays there is a museum and monument to S.Orlov in the town of Belozersk.

Nikolai Rubtsov (1936 - 1971)
A famous Russian lyrical poet.
1941-1950 - lived in the children's home near Vologda.
1960-s - his poems were published.
Many of his lyrical works are set to music. The museum of Rubtsov is situated in the village of Nikolskoe near Totma and the monument - in the town of Vologda. Buried in Vologda.

Varlam Shalamov (1907 - 1982)
Born in Vologda.
In 1929 he was arrested and had to spend 17 years in a concentration camp. Together with Al.Solzhenitsyn, the famous Russian writer, he described the hardships and sufferings of the Soviet convicts.