MONTPELIER, Vt. | Scholars from around the world are gathering in Vermont to discuss the writings and legacy of the late dissident author Alexander Solzhenitsyn (sohl-zheh-NEETS’-ihn.)
Solzhenitsyn spent 18 years in exile in Vermont after chronicling life in the former Soviet Union, where he was held captive for 11 years. He died in Russia in 2008.

A two-day conference begins Friday on the Lyndon campus of Northern Vermont University. It will include a visit Saturday to Cavendish, the southern Vermont town where Solzhenitsyn lived.
Over the decades, “The Gulag Archipelago” author wrote about life in Soviet labor camps and histories of Russia and the Soviet Union.
Northern Vermont University history Professor Alexander Strokanov organized the conference. He says Solzhenitsyn’s works still resonate today amid strained relations between the U.S. and Russia.
