To Ye. M. Shavrova, 20 June 1891. Bogimovo.

Another Bogimovo/Aleksin letter to the young writer Yelena Mikhailovna Shavrova, continuing Chekhov’s informal literary mentorship. He opens by assuring her he is always glad to read her work and that she need not ask permission, but warns his verdicts may do her no good. He admits he has not read Lidiya Veselitskaya’s popular novella "Mimochka at the Waters," relays Suvorin’s report that its author is a married woman, and – sight unseen, and by his own admission out of envy – guesses from Suvorin’s review and quoted excerpts that the book is more mannered than brilliant. He is too absorbed in his dacha work to chase after any "Mimochkas" at a spa this summer, though he floats a possible Crimea trip in August if money allows, and asks her to leave a forwarding address with Sinani or another Crimean regular. He then turns her worry about writing dull stories back on her: not every story can avoid dullness, but writing itself must never be dull to produce. He recommends Lazarev-Gruzinsky’s story collection "Not Dull Stories," sizing up Gruzinsky as a talented but overly rational writer not worth imitating, while telling Shavrova she surpasses him. Asked what she should read to become "terribly clever," he demurs and points her only to travel writing, then closes with a plain well-wish and signature, followed by the envelope address.