A New Year Gift
Haiku by Alexander Dolin (Russia)
Paintings by Oleg Usov (Russia)
Calligraphy by Stanislav Usov (Russia)
About Haiku Poet
Alexander Dolin, PhD
(photo & profile)
Alexander Dolin (b.1949) after having graduated from the Oriental Languages College of Moscow State University, started his academic career at the Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, and received there his PhD degree in Japanese Literature. After moving to Japan in 1992, he worked for twelve years as a Professor of Comparative Literature at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. In 2004, he was invited to the innovative Akita International University as Professor of Japanese Literature and Comparative Culture.
Dr. Dolin is the author of several comprehensive monographs on Japanese literature and culture, including History of New Japanese Poetry in 4 volumes. His works on Japanese and Russian literature, culture, religion and society, as well as on world civilizations were variously issued in Russian, German, English and Japanese. He has also published over 50 books of translations containing numerous masterpieces from classical and modern Japanese literature, especially a variety of anthologies and individual collections introducing Japanese poetry from ancient times to present day crowned by the massive series “Great Library of Japanese Poetry” in 8 volumes. (Nauka, 2022). In 1995, he was awarded the Special Contribution to Culture Prize by the All-Japan Translators’ Association for his academic and poetic translation into Russian of the Kokinwakashu immortal anthology. He completed his career in Japan in 2017 as Professor Emeritus of Akita International University.
Since 2017 – professor of Japanese Literature and Comparative Culture at Higher School of Economics National Research University, School of Asian Studies (Moscow) and senior research fellow at the Institute of Oriental Studies (Russian Academy of Sciences).
In Russia, Dr. Dolin is also well known as the author of several academic books on Oriental Martial Arts.
Having published a number of books of poetry, prose and non-fiction, Alexander Dolin is universally recognized in Russia as a poet and writer in his own right. He enjoys also composing poetry in English and in Japanese. Award of the Russian Union of Writers’ medal of honor for the promotion of international contacts.
About Painter & Calligrapher
Oleg Usov & Stanislav Usov
(photo and profiles)
Oleg Usov (born 1964) is a professional sumi-e painter, the author of over 2500 works (colored sumi-e mostly in “the flowers and birds”style.
Graduated from 1. V.A. Serov Art School (Moscow) and Sumi-e school of the Japan House cultural center in Moscow (3 years course). Also had short time experience of sumi-e studies in Japan.
Many of his paintings had been presented at the national sumi-e exhibitions in Russia and international exhibitions in Japan, Taibei, Hongkong, Spain and other countries. Studying sumi-e Oleg Usov has also mastered Japanese on a substantiate level and started reading haiku in original.
Member of the Sumi-e Painters Union of Russia. Award of the Grand Prix at the international exhibition Art beyond Boundaries”(Tokyo, 2022) and a number of other international prizes. Published several individual sumi-e albums. In 2024 as an illustrator for the massive anthology of haiku in two volumes “World in a Drop” translated by A. Dolin (Azbooka Publishers) had scores of his best works printed in book format. Currently continues his activities illustrating collections of Japanese poetry.
https://usov-art.ru/
https://www.facebook.com/oleg.usov.169/
https://www.instagram.com/usov.art.ru/
Stanislav Usov (born 1989)
Studied at ARC ACADEMY OSAKA SCHOOL Level N2;
Tankai School of Calligraphy (淡海書道文化専門学校日本語日本文学科書道コース卒業) (Higashiomi, Shiga, Japan)’
Kyoto Tachibana University (Kyoto, Japan)
Participated in numerous exhibitions in cooperation with his father, painter Oleg Usov.
Exhibition : Art Beyond Boundaries 2023, (The National Art Center, Tokyo, Japan)
審査員特別賞 (Jury’s Special Award for calligraphy)
Lately working as a calligrapher for a series of Japanese poetry classics in Russian translation by Alexander Dolin.
Akita International Haiku Network 
Haiku beyond Earth「天上俳句会」Haiku by Alexander Dolin as a New Year Gift
Huge congratulations to Alexander Dolin 👏👏👏👏