Noted author of Russian literature, Donna Orwin, will speak on “The Awful Poetry of War” at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 21, as part of the Stetson University Russian Studies Spring Lecture series. The program, which is open to the public, free of charge, will be held in room 122, Lynn Business Center, located at 345 N. Woodland Blvd., DeLand. A short period of questions and answers will follow the lecture.

Guest speaker Professor Donna Orwin, chair of the Slavic Languages and Literature Program at the University of  Toronto, is also author and editor of various books on Russian literature. Currently, she is working on a book of military history connected with Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812. Orwin will discuss the realism and art of the battlefield descriptions in Leo Tolstoy’s novel, “War and Peace.” This year marks the 200^th anniversary of Russia’s defeat of Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812, immortalized by Tolstoy in “War and Peace.”

For more information, contact Julie Zischkau (386) 822-7381, or Dr. Michael Denner ([email protected]) in Stetson’s Russian Studies Center.