The revolutions of February and October 1917 brought new found freedom to Vera, so longed for by her young spirit, but at a considerable price. The first step in her literary career came when she began to visit the Dom Iskusstv (House of the Arts) in Petrograd. The House was officially opened on December 19, 1919 to provide for the material needs of Russian writers and artists and atmosphere in which their creative work could continue and flourish. There were regular meetings on Friday evening and lectures on Monday, in which some of the leading figures of the day participle Korneiy Chukovkij, Maksim Gorkij, Evgenij Zamjatin, the poets Andrej Belyj, Aleksandr Blok, Nikolaj Gumilev and the critics Boris Ejxenbaum and Viktor Shklovskij. In addition, several «studios» were opened based on the model established by Gumilev in the spring of 1919 at the World Literature. By September of 1920 over three hundred fifty students were enrolled and several new sections ware added.
Vera attended the studio of the famed director Nikolaj Evreinov on the «Philosophy of Theater» and the poetic studio of Gumilev. Gumilev was one of the maior figures of Acmeism and his simplicity of structures, world selection and rhythms can all be felt in the poetry of his student. Vera was clearly infatuated by him, flattered by his attentions and remembers fondly how Gumilev spent the evening of April 21, 1921 celebrating her twentieth birthday at her home.
Gumilev was also the guiding spirit of a group of young poets who called themselves Zvuchashaya Rakovina (Sounding Sea-Shell), which included along with Vela Lur’e, Nikolaj Tixonov, Konstantin Vaginov, Georgij Ivanov and Irina Odoevceva. In the group’s collection «dedicated to the memory of our friend and teacher N.S. Gumilev» of which only 1000 copies were published in Petrograd in 1922 can be found three of Vera’s earliest poems, and her only poems to be published inside of Russia: «My body aches from sleplessness…» and «The church transparent from the sun…»
The poet’s association with Gumilev came to a tragic and shock ing end for the twenty year old girl, Returning from a meeting of the Sounding Sea-Shell in early August 1921 Gumilev was arrested. Just a few days later Aleksandr Blok, the shining light of Russian poetry, died. Vera along with the literary elite ol Russia attended his tuneral and a few weeks later would attend services in the Cathedral of Kazan for Gumilev who had been executed by the Soviets.
Like many others, Andrej Belyj, Maksim Gorkij, Aleksej Remizov, Vera left Russia in the fall of 1921. After stopping in Riga for about a month, she made her way to Berlin. At first her family lived in a series of