The Father of Russian Literature, Alexander Pushkin, led a colourful life of semi-debauchery in St Petersburg, and set some of his best-loved works there. Biographical details, including  his schooldays at the city’s elite Lycée and his dramatic demise in a duel at the age of only 37, are followed by a review of two of his best known poems, which focus closely on St Petersburg. Then we look at his short story ‘The Shot’, a tale of pride, revenge and pistols which eerily previews his own death a few years later. Finally, we outline four places in the city today where you can go in search of Pushkin.

http://www.citybreakspodcast.co.uk