Translated from the Russian by Mariya Gusev I wasn’t expecting to be this scared. It was a physiological reaction I could not control, even with all of my resolve. As soon as we got there and took our place, my knees began to tremble. This was terribly embarrassing. And I could do nothing to stop […]
Translated from the Russian by Mariya Gusev #end_of_the_world_diary I teach at a literary seminar. A colleague wrote that a student had just given her a story where a rocket hits a TV tower. And a student gave me a story where two people were fleeing a nuclear explosion that had engulfed Moscow. I envy those […]
Translated from the Russian by Mariya Gusev and Rebecca Bella Wangh One day, all this will endFor sure, it will run its course —Bombs and buckwheat will run outTanks and matches will run outCannon fodder will run outCheese in the mousetrap will run outAir in a space suit will run outTime and money will run […]
Translated from the Russian by Mariya Gusev #end_of_the_world_diary I read the news that Putin put nuclear weapons on high alert, decided to enjoy life for the last time, went to a coffee shop, drank a mango sea buckthorn smoothie. It was very tasty. At a nearby table, two blondes with oversized lips are arguing with […]
Translated from the Russian by Mariya Gusev Throughout this week, which will close out the first month of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Literalab will publish the writing of Natalia Klyuchareva. “The End of the World Diary” recounts her reactions during the war’s opening week. “March 6” tells about her experience attending an anti-war rally. […]
As B O D Y’s Winter Issue continues, we bring you an interview with British writer Alan Bilton speaking about his latest novel The End of the Yellow House, the influence of Russian literature and much more. It’s a truly fantastic novel that offers a vivid, deep and darkly surreal look at the chaotic and […]
Books From Slovakia has a fantastic interview Daniela Balážová held with Slovak writer Pavol Rankov, author of the recently translated It Happened on the First of September. Among many topics Rankov talks about how the different translations deal with all the different languages used in the novel (spoiler: differently) and also talks about the lost multicultural […]
In The Moscow Times, John Freedman illuminates a striking parallel between the hysterical, xenophobic cultural attacks being directed against cultural figures in Russia and those carried out at the height of Stalinism: “I’ve seen this before. Not in my lifetime, no. I saw it unfold before my astonished eyes in crumbling, yellowing newspaper clippings from the late 1920s […]
“Alevtina” is a short story by Dmitri Novoselov, translated by Will Firth, recounting a woman’s odyssey through different husbands, lovers and wild turns of fortune whose chaos is highly suggestive of the post-Soviet Russia during which her adult life has played out. Read more Sunday European Fiction Photo – Russian graffiti that says “Kitchen and […]
“Russia’s regular historical paradox is that its rulers want one thing but the result is often something entirely different. Peter the Great wanted to strengthen the empire, but instead he placed a bomb beneath it, which destroyed it. In our time, Gorbachev wanted to save communism and instead he buried it.” Author of Maidenhair, Mikhail […]
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