Inside the New Russian Literature: Prize Winning Young Russian Writers Touring US to Discuss Their Work and Artistic Expression in Contemporary Russia

NEW YORK, Feb. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Against the backdrop of protests and disputed elections, Russia's most innovative and outspoken literary voices will be touring the United States for speaking engagements hosted by Georgetown University, the New York Public Library, Bard College and Harvard University. "Primary Sources: The New Russian Literature Arrives," a series of literary readings and discussions, is being brought to an American audience by The Debut Prize Foundation, a Russian non-governmental organization and Causa Artium, a New York City based non-profit.

The authors, which include dynamic and celebrated winners of Russia's esteemed Debut Prize and other awards, will read their works and speak on issues for which they are indeed primary sources: the role of artists in contemporary Russia in the context of emerging political, social and artistic trends.

"Hidden from the West is how crucial this moment is in the art and life of the Russian civilization. The Soviet and immediate post-Soviet generations had much in common, both obsessed with the heritage of the Soviet epoch. But now they are being displaced by a new generation, one for which the Soviet Union is mere history. Young writers are demanding to be heard -- and they are being heard. In Russia they are sometimes called the Debut Generation," said Debut Prize Program Director Olga Slavnikova, herself a leading Russian novelist and winner of the Russian Booker Prize. Slavnikova also will be reading at the events, which are free and open to the public.

Details:
The events will be in English.

Washington, DC
15 February 2012
4:30--6:00 p.m.: Discussion and Readings
6:00--7:30 p.m.: Reception
Georgetown University, Intercultural Conference Center (ICC), conference room 462

New York
18 February 2012
2:30--4:00 p.m.: Discussion and Readings
The New York Public Library (the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building), Fifth Avenue at Forty-Second Street in the South Court Auditorium

20 February 2012
6:00--7:30 p.m.: Discussion and Readings
8:00 p.m.: Reception
Bard College, RKC Science Center, Room 103 and Hannah Arendt Center, 1448 Annandale Road

Boston
22 February 2012
5:00--6:30 p.m.: Discussion and Readings
6:30--8:00 p.m.: Reception
Harvard College, 1730 Cambridge Street, the Belfer Case Study Room (S020) at the CGIS South Building

Writers:

Alisa Ganieva, born 1985 and raised in Dagestan, won the Debut Prize for the controversial short story "Salam, Dalgat." Published as the work of Gulla Khirachev, a fighter in the war-torn Russian Caucasus, "Salam, Dalgat" exploded onto the literary scene. Khirachev was declared the winner, but in place of an unkempt rebel, the prize was accepted by the refined Ganieva.

Irina Bogatyreva, born 1982 in Kazan, Tatarstan, writes on the freedom offered by Russia's vibrant youth hitchhiking subculture, and the magical appeal of Siberian unspoiled wilderness and the ancient civilizations that lived there. "The protagonists hitchhike from Moscow to the Altai, much as I once did. But from the day it was published, so many people saw themselves in my characters that I came to understand that it wasn't my story alone, but the story of everyone who had ever experienced the joys and the thrill of the open road."

Igor Savelyev was born in 1983 into a family of writers in Ufa in the southern Urals, where he lives and works as a crime reporter for the local news agency. In 2004, his short novel Pale City became a cult classic for Russia's youth culture. The novel is an inside view of the new generation's yearning for independence, freedom and meaning.

Dmitry Biryukov was born in 1979 and lives in Novosibirsk's "Academic City." Biryukov is the author of numerous short stories and essays. Biryukov's current project is a novel whose protagonist is an artist searching for the hidden meaning of one of the landmark works of 20th century art, Kasimir Malevich's 1915 "Black Square." A journalist by trade, Biryukov covers arts and culture.

Contact John William Narins of Causa Artium at 818-642-9225 for more information or to schedule an interview with the writers.

Media Contact:
John William Narins
The Debut Prize Foundation
818-642-9225
[email protected]
http://www.pokolenie-debut.com/
http://www.causaartium.org/

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SOURCE The Debut Prize Foundation