Oktyabr (Russian: Октябрь, IPA: [ɐkˈtʲabrʲ] ^ⓘ, "October'") was a monthly Russian literary magazine based in Moscow. It was in circulation between 1924 and 2019. In addition to Novy Mir and Znamya the monthly was a leading and deep-rooted literary magazine in Russia.^[1]

Oktyabr was launched in 1924 by a group with the same name, "Oktyabr", which was founded by the poet Alexander Bezymensky and the novelist Yury Libedinsky in 1922.^[2] It was an official organ of the Soviet Union and had a conservative political stance.^[3][4] Particularly during the post-World War II period it became one of the most pro-government publications and was instrumental in shaping the image of Soviet poetry.^[5]

The editorial board of the magazine in the Soviet era included those figures recognized by the state.^[5] The first chief editor was Labory Kalmanson who was also known as G. Lelevich.^[2] Fyodor Ivanovich served as chief editor of the monthly for two times (from 1931 to 1954, and then from 1957 to 1961).^[5] Vsevolod Kochetov was the chief editor in the period 1961–1973.^[6] In the same period, the monthly was a fierce critic of Nikita Khrushchev's reforms, adopting a Stalinist stance.^[7] In other words, Oktyabr was among the thick journals of that period in the Soviet Union.^[6] Anatoly Ananiev replaced Kochetov as chief editor of Oktyabr in 1973.^[7] The last editor-in-chief was Irina Barmetova who assumed the post in 2001 and continued to edit the magazine until its closure in January 2019.^[8]

The magazine awarded the Oktyabr prize.^[9] The 2013 winners were Andrey Bitov for the story "Something with love... ", director Leonid Heifetz for his article "Flashes" and poet Lev Kozlowski for a selection of verses "Sukhoy Bridge".^[10]

Oktyabr serialized various novels, published poems and other articles about movies and societal issues. Due to such a wide coverage, the magazine was compared to the 19th century edition of Edinburgh Review.^[1] In the late 1970s, Anatoly Rybakov’s novel, Heavy Sands, was serialized in the monthly.^[11] Life and Fate, a novel written by Vasily Grossman, was first published in the magazine in 1988.^[12][3] This novel was one of the forbidden literary works in the country and therefore, the magazine became one of the publications publishing previously forbidden books in the glasnost period.^[7] In 2006, the magazine published Vasili Aksyonov's novel Moskva-kva-kva.^[13] The monthly also published poems of significant and state-recognized poets in the Soviet era, forming the image of Soviet poetry, and works on literary criticism.^[5]

In addition to literary works, in the 1960s the magazine covered articles on Soviet films, focusing on the merits of these movies.^[14] Mikhail Antonov's seminal essay, "So What Is Happening to Us?", was published in Oktyabr in 1989.^[15]

In 1989, the magazine published a posthumous work, Forever Flowing, by Vasily Grossman,^[16] arguing "Lenin - all victories of the party and the state are linked with the name of Lenin. But all cruelty committed in the country has become the tragic burden of Vladimir Ilych."^[3] The article was written long before, but it was one of the first overt criticisms against Lenin.^[3] Thus, it marked a serious challenge process towards the past of the country, especially Lenin's legacy.^[16]