Olga Sedakova's book, "The Wisdom of Hope and Other Conversations about Dante," continues her earlier work, "Translating Dante" (2020). However, this time, it is not about translating Dante into Russian but about his "innate and insatiable thirst for understanding," exploring Dante as a thinker and poet-theologian.

The book is divided into three parts. The first section contains works directly related to "The Divine Comedy." Among them, the newly published essay "Circle, Cross, Man" stands out, dedicated to the Ravenna Dante and his anthropology, unexpectedly resonating with early Christian thought.

The second section includes works on Dante's Italian context and his presence in Russian poetry. The third, smaller section features translations of excerpts from "La Vita Nuova," bringing us back to the beginning of Dante's journey. All translations from Italian and other languages are done by the author. Almost all essays in the book are published either for the first time in Russian or for the first time ever.

Incorporating the insights of many readers and scholars—Danteologists, poets, philosophers, theologians—Sedakova's book offers a deeply personal and often unexpected interpretation of "The Divine Comedy." In dialogue with such a grand and provocative interlocutor as Dante, the author brings to the forefront themes important to her as a poet, philologist, and thinker: hope and will, wisdom and reason, geometry and flesh, creation and freedom.