Long conversation with Lydia yesterday about ethical storytelling. Her documentary will feature real migrant writers. Whose voices get amplified? Who represents the community? Who has authority to speak? Same questions haunt my fiction about immigrant experience. Can I write characters from backgrounds adjacent to mine? Russian character writing Ukrainian experience feels different from Russian writing […]
Documentary Ethics Read More »
Fifth or maybe sixth mentorship meeting with Lydia. Lost count. We’re analysing Omnichannel Hearts structure now. How digital formats affect storytelling rhythm. Her photo-art background reveals patterns I didn’t consciously design. Chat transcripts create staccato pacing. Quick back-and-forth exchanges generate urgency. Email threads build tension differently. Longer form, more deliberate, characters crafting responses carefully. She
Narrative Architecture Session Read More »
Tonight’s Candid Book Club event at Waterstones Piccadilly proved why debut novels deserve serious literary attention. Ela Lee’s “Jaded” sparked one of the most intense discussions I’ve witnessed about race, power, and identity in contemporary fiction. Lee, a British-Korean-Turkish writer who left City law during the pandemic to write her first novel, brought authentic perspective
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I’m writing this from a terrace café in Dubai, where Valentine’s Day unfolds itself in fascinating patterns of human behavior that feel like research for my next novel. The afternoon crowd provides a perfect laboratory for observing how love expresses itself in our hyperconnected age. At the table next to me, a couple leans across
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Completed first research memo for Lydia’s documentary concept. She wants to map Eastern European diaspora in London physically. Where we live, work, gather, feel home. Brick Lane Russian shops selling familiar groceries. Gloucester Road Ukrainian cafés. South Kensington Polish bookstores. These spaces function as cultural anchors. You hear your language, eat recognizable food, browse books
Research Memo: Diasporic Spaces Read More »
Somerset House’s “Cute” exhibition challenged everything I thought I knew about aesthetic appreciation and emotional manipulation. From Hello Kitty’s global domination to the psychology behind our obsession with baby animals, the show revealed cuteness as a serious cultural force. The most unsettling section explored how cute aesthetics influence consumer behavior and political messaging. Seeing propaganda
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Eastern Empire is officially in the world as of this morning, and I’m still processing the magnitude of what this year has brought. Two published novels in twelve months — Luxury Labyrinth in May and now this — feels like an achievement that belongs to someone else’s life, not mine. Last night’s launch celebration was
Release: Eastern Empire Read More »
Today’s mentorship session wasn’t about my writing. Lydia showed British Library archival materials from Between Two Worlds. Photographs, letters, interview transcripts documenting Ukrainian displacement. The materials were raw. Not polished for public consumption. Handwritten letters with grammar mistakes. Blurry photographs. Interview transcripts capturing hesitations and contradictions. Messiness of actual human experience before it gets shaped
Between Memory and Archive Read More »
The third novel is finally ready for the world. Eastern Empire publishes in December, and I’m experiencing that familiar mix of anticipation and terror that comes with releasing something you’ve poured years of your life into. This story began during my semester at Beijing Language and Culture University back in 2018. Walking through hutongs at
Coming Soon: Eastern Empire Read More »
Autumn in Almaty arrived with that particular Central Asian light that makes everything feel simultaneously ancient and immediate. The Almaty Writing Residency organized by OLSHA and IWP turned out to be less about writing in isolation and more about collision. The trilingual format worked in English, Russian, and Kazakh, creating fascinating translation problems during workshops.
Three Languages, One Conversation Read More »
Dive into my latest novel that explores art meets algorithm in our hyperconnected world. Multilingual storytelling with visual elements—questioning what’s authentic behind perfectly curated facades.
