Where can I find the Emerald City? It's closer than you think!

135 years ago, on June 14, 1891, the writer, playwright, translator and teacher was born Alexander Volkov — the man who gave millions of children one of the most important Soviet fairy tales.

Volkov was a phenomenon of Soviet literature. A mathematician with an encyclopedic education, he took on the translation of the American Frank Bauma just for language practice, but in the end I creatively reworked it and created my own universe of the Emerald City and a story about the power of sincere friendship.

Few people know, but the roots of this Magical Land go deep into the Siberian taiga, and Tomsk, where the young writer once studied, inspired him with its lace towers and remained in his heart for the rest of his life.

We use flashcards to recount the amazing and dramatic facts of Volkov's biography, uncover the Siberian secrets of the Emerald City, and explore how Tomsk today preserves the memory of the storyteller.