Cathy Kalvin Teasley

24721 El Camino Capistrano, Dana Pt, CA 92629

publisher@casadana.com

Ellendea Proffer Teasley (born 1944) is an American author, publisher, and translator of Russian literature into English.
She graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park, in 1966. She married Carl R. Proffer (1938–1984), and co-founded Ardis Publishers in 1971, a specializing in Russian literature, both in English and Russian. [ In 1989 She received the MacArthur Fellows Program Award. His papers are held at University of Michigan. She donated a collection of manuscripts, typescripts, correspondences, books, photographs, and proofs, to the University of Michigan's Library. In 2002, she sold Ardis Press to Overlook Press

Kathy Kalvin/Ellenda Proffer Teasley Biography: Carl R. Proffer (1938-1984) and Ellendea Proffer (1944- ) co-founded Ardis in 1971 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Ardis (1971-2002) was the foremost Western publisher of Russian and Soviet literature during this period. Principal categories of work published by Ardis included reprints of unavailable classics, translations into English of previously untranslated 20th century literature, translations of literary criticism, works in English and Russian on literary figures or movements, and original works of Russian literature. The greatest contribution of Ardis was the publication of Russian and English translations of classics by such writers as Osip Mandelstam and Marina Tsvetaeva. The Soviets had allowed these works to go out of print.
Carl Proffer was a scholar, author, essayist, editor, translator, and publisher. He was born in Buffalo, New York and was educated at the University of Michigan and Moscow State University. He was the first student to receive a PhD in the University of Michigan department of Slavic languages and literature, this in 1963. His early research interest was Vladimir Nabokov. He taught at Reed College (Portland, Oregon) and Indiana University before joining the faculty of the University of Michigan in 1970.
Ellendea Proffer is a scholar, publisher, translator, editor, and author. She was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She attended the University of Maryland and Indiana University, receiving her PhD at I.U. in 1970. Her research subject was Mikhail Bulgakov. She taught at Wayne State University before resigning to concentrate on editing and writing. Carl and Ellendea Proffer were married in 1967. Ellendea was a MacArthur Fellow from 1989-1994.
Carl Proffer received a Fulbright fellowship in 1969, and the couple went to Moscow. They were given a letter of introduction to Nadezhda Mandelstam, the widow of the poet Osip Mandelstam who died in a Stalinist camp in 1938. Mandelstam is considered by many to be the greatest Russian poet of the 20th century. Madame Mandelstam authored Hope against Hope and Hope Abandoned , her memoirs of the Stalinist terror. She preserved the poetry of husband by memorization and storing manuscripts in pots and with trusted friends. The Proffers became members of the Mandelstam literary circle. Madame Mandelstam provided a letter of introduction to the poet, Joseph Brodsky, in Leningrad. Through these connections and others, the Proffers were able to collect unpublished works by contemporary Russian authors as well as rare editions of Russian works from the early twentieth century.
Upon their return to the United States, Carl Proffer began to think about producing a journal which would contain writings by neglected authors as well as contemporary ones. He developed a proposed content list, but funding was not established at this time.
In the spring of 1971 Carl Proffer decided to try printing with a hand press as a hobby. He learned that by using a composer, he could quickly produce printed text. The first edition of Russian Literature Triquarterly (RLT) was produced in 1971. It was funded by a four thousand dollar loan from Carl's parents. This "thick journal" included literature, articles, reviews, and original documents in Russian. The first issue contained previously untranslated poetry by Mandelstam, Gumilev, Akhmatova, and Brodsky, a play by Bulgakov, and stories by Pasternak. Each edition covered a specific topic or author such as the Silver Age of Russian literature or Vladimir Nabokov. The initial journals contained the material collected by the Proffers in the Soviet Union in 1969. RLT ceased publication in fall, 1992.
The name Ardis was taken from Nabokov's novel Ada. The novel takes place in a mythical setting which has features of both Russia and America. The setting for the novel is Ardis Hall, a family estate. The colophon for Ardis is a caleche or carriage drawn by a pair of horses. The caleche was found in a book of Favorsky reproductions that Ellendea collected in Moscow. This is symbolic of Pushkin's idea of translation as the "post horse of enlightenment." Ardis was launched with a photo offset reprint of Osip Mandelstam's 1913 poetry volume Kamen ( Stone in English). One thousand copies were printed and were quickly sold.
The Proffers returned to the Soviet Union yearly to make contact with writers and to obtain manuscripts. Ardis published literary work that was not overtly political although it contained themes such as freedom, individualism, and sexuality that were considered controversial by the Soviet regime. Ardis had no connection to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). It was common at the time for publishing houses which printed Russian-language material to receive funding in some form from the CIA. Prior to Ardis, published Russian literature from the period 1900-1935 was not readily available in the West because much of it had been suppressed very quickly by the czarist and Soviet regimes. The Proffers wanted to publish poets such as Akhmatova, Tsvetaeva, and Mandelstam, critical works concerning Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, and Pushkin, and the plays and prose of Bulgakov in the West. In addition, they wanted to publish contemporary authors, poets, and playwrights. These works and authors were not considered to be commercially viable to large western publishers and their audiences.
A typical early printing consisted of one thousand copies. One-third of these copies made their way into the Soviet Union. Ardis sent copies of their publications through the mail to major libraries in the U.S.S.R. Some of these copies were confiscated and put in K.G.B. libraries and others were sold on the black market. The remaining two-thirds of the copies were sold in the West. Later, Ardis sold 3000 copies of a given title in hardback and 5000 in paperback. Twenty-five to thirty titles were published per year. The maximum number of Ardis staff in Ann Arbor was six persons who edited, typeset, and designed the books. Printing was done by other companies. Proofreaders and translators were Russian scholars throughout the world.
The Proffers were with the poet and later Nobel laureate Joseph Brodsky in Leningrad immediately after he was "invited" to leave the Soviet Union in 1972.Carl Proffer secured a teaching position for Brodsky at the University of Michigan, and he came to Ann Arbor as poet-in-residence. Ardis became Brodsky's Russian publishers after he was forced into exile. Vladimir Nabokov also agreed to let Ardis publish his English novels in Russian. Ardis also published his early Russian novels into English.
In 1976 a package postmarked 'Vienna' arrived at Ardis; it was addressed "Ardis, Ann Arbor, U.S.A." The packaged contained a manuscript and an anonymous note asking, "Do you want this literature?" The manuscript proved to be A School for Fools by Sasha Sokolov and was published by Ardis in 1977. Sokolov was later exiled and the Proffers were instrumental in helping him to settle in the West. Ardis also published in Russian the memoirs of the dissident, Lev Kopelev. Kopelev witnessed the forced collectivization of farms in the Ukraine in the 1930's. As a Soviet Army officer he also witnessed the brutality of the Red Army as it entered East Prussia on the drive to Berlin during World War II. He was imprisoned in the Stalinist Gulag for ten years due to his criticism of these events. Kopelev and his wife, Raya Orlova, were in Germany in 1980 when his Soviet citizenship was revoked. The Proffers and Ardis
Vasilii Aksenov and a group of twenty-two other well-known writers submitted an anthology, Metropol, to Soviet censors; it was not approved for publication. Aksenov then took Metropol, to Ardis in 1979. The writers were tired of censorship and thought that their fame and the apolitical nature of Ardis publishing would protect them. Metropol was published in Russian by Ardis. The authors were summarily banned from publication in the U.S.S.R. Carl Proffer was not able to obtain a visa to the Soviet Union thereafter. Aksenov came to Ann Arbor and taught at the University of Michigan. His Soviet citizenship was revoked, but was restored in 1990. Because the Proffers were denied visas to the Soviet Union, they acquired literary material via microfilms of manuscripts or via correspondents or diplomatic personnel.
Carl Proffer contracted cancer and died in September, 1984. Ellendea continued Ardis with the help of editors such as Ronald Meyer, Mary Ann Szporluk, and Rachel Oksenkrug. An annotated translation of The Master and Margarita was produced as well as studies on Soviet history and architecture, and the RussianAlive! language series. In 1994 Ardis operations moved to Dana Point, California. Ardis was sold to Overlook Press/Peter Mayer Publishers, Inc in 2002.

Hi to Sandie Newmann!!!

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