PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED
We are sorry to announce that, unfortunately, the visit of young Russian writers – the Debut Prize winners to Cambridge on Saturday 20th April has been cancelled. The Debut Project is closing its international programme due to a sudden insolvency of their sponsor. The writers will come to London for a short while, but will be unable to visit Cambridge due to the limited time and finances.
Here is their programme during the London Book Fair:
14 April, Sunday
14.00 – 16.00 Waterstone, Russian section.
“Live Fast, Write Young: Memoirs about Growing Up Quickly in Volatile Times”
15 April, Monday
19.00 – 21.00 Pushkin House
“Women’s writing and the theme of the disabled in new Russian writing”
Readings from the new translations of Debut winners.
London Book Fair
15-17 April , Monday – Wednesday
15.30 – 16.30 at the collective Russian stand Y455
“Today’s Russia as Seen by its Young Authors”
Readings from the new translations of Debut winners.
17 April, Wednesday
19.00 – 21.00 – European Bookshop
“Rising Stars of New Russian Writing”
Readings from the new translations of Debut winners.
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Please come to meet “The Rising Stars of Russian Writing” in Cambridge on Saturday, 20th April.
Three young Russian Writers – winners of the “Debut” prize in 2012: Irina Bogatyreva, Olga Rimsha and Alexander Snegirev will be coming to Cambridge to talk about their works and inspirations.
Presented by Natalia Perova – the publisher of contemporary Russian literature in English, Arch Tait – the English literary translator of their works and Yelena Karl – Cambridge Russian Book Club (CamRuSS).
Olga Rimsha (born in 1988) lives in Novosibirsk (Siberia) and works as a literary editor. Her short novel Still Waters won the Debut Prize in 2010. She describes her prose as “pessimistic optimism”.
Irina Bogatyreva was born in 1982 in Kazan (Tatarstan) and grew up on the Volga. In 2005 she graduated from the Literary Institute in Moscow. Today she is widely published in the leading literary magazines, and in 2008 her first novel, AutoSTOP (published in English as “Off the Beaten Track”) was the finalist of the Debut Prize, and also won the Eureka, Ilya-prize, and the prize of the Oktyabr magazine. She has several books to her credit, all on the most topical Russian problems today. Her recent novel Comrade Anna was short-listed for the Belkin Prize.
Alexander Snegirev, born in 1980 in Moscow, has a degree in Political Science but currently works in construction design.
Winner of the Debut Prize for his collected stories Russian Rhymes (2005). His short novel “How We Bombed America” won the Crown Prize of the Writers’ Union in 2007. In 2009, “Petroleum Venus” was shortlisted for the National Bestseller Prize, nominated for the Russian Booker, and was on the OZON.RU bestseller list for a year. His next novel, “Vanity”, was named the best book of 2010. His story “Don’t be Afraid, Girl” came out in German in the series “Junge russische Literatur” (Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag). The story “D.R.” was published in English in “Rasskazy”. (Tin House Books, 2009)
Limited to writers under 35, the Debut Prize, founded in 2000, receives some 50,000 submissions annually from all corners of Russia. The winners form a new generation of rising literary stars who are transforming the Russian literary landscape. Readers in the West are little aware of how crucial this phenomenon is in the culture, and life itself in Russia. For this generation the Soviet Union is a part of history rather than a part of their life. They have an entirely new set of hopes, worries, experiences, interests and concerns. Take this special opportunity to learn about how Russia is changing and what it is likely to become!
“The Debut tries to gather the best we have in Russia.” – Novaya Gazeta
“A prestigious literary prize considered one of the most respected in Russia, on a par with the Booker.” — Argumenty i Fakty
“From its inception the “Debut” has been the most popular and representative of prizes, not unlike a literary census of hidden talents.” — The New Times
