Called Lydia from Moscow airport yesterday after Omnichannel Hearts presentation. Russian audience response felt disorienting. They understood cultural references but missed technological critique entirely.
She shared similar experience presenting Ukrainian work in different contexts. London audiences see displacement narrative. Kyiv audiences see something else entirely. Same work, different reception based on viewer’s position.
We’ve been working together a year now. Finally understanding why mentorship matters. Not just craft feedback. Someone who navigates the same cultural dissonance daily.
She asked about Moscow reception specifically. I explained how tech themes that feel urgent in London read as Western preoccupation to Russian audience. They’re more interested in cultural authenticity questions. Whether I’m still “Russian enough” to write about Russian characters.
Different anxiety entirely. London readers worry about stereotyping. Moscow readers worry about betrayal or Westernization. Can’t satisfy both audiences simultaneously.
Lydia faces identical pressure with Ukrainian work. Too Ukrainian for British audiences, too British for Ukrainian audiences. The displacement isn’t just physical. It’s about belonging to multiple contexts that have incompatible expectations.
Year of mentorship sessions created foundation for this kind of conversation. We don’t need to explain basic premise. Both understand the impossibility of pure cultural belonging once you’ve lived between contexts.
Documentary project taking shape in these conversations. Not just about what we write but about navigating these incompatible audience expectations.
— Writer Julia Zolotova
