Blog
An Unexpected Connection
Saturday workshop at Pushkin House brought together Ukrainians documenting their London experience through collaborative mapping. I went because diaspora navigation fascinates me. How we create mental maps of belonging in unfamiliar cities, how geography becomes emotional rather than physical. Met Lydia Grigorieva there. Ukrainian poet and photo-artist who works with
Hertfordshire Press Awards
I attended the Hertfordshire Press Award Ceremony at Yunus Emre Institute in Fitzrovia this weekend. Two-day literary festival organized by Eurasian Creative Guild and Hertfordshire Press. Over a hundred people from twenty countries. First ceremony since 2019 at the British Library, making the return especially significant. I went because a
Surrealism Meets Daily Life
“Objects of Desire: Surrealism and Design 1924-Today” at the Design Museum proved that avant-garde art inevitably infiltrates mainstream culture. Salvador Dalí’s melting clocks appeared on furniture, while René Magritte’s visual paradoxes influenced contemporary product design. The exhibition traced how surrealist principles — unexpected juxtapositions, dream logic, subconscious exploration — now
Van Cleef & Arpels: Poetry in Motion
The Design Museum’s Van Cleef & Arpels exhibition transformed jewelry into kinetic sculpture. Watches with mechanical butterflies, brooches with moving petals, necklaces that seemed to breathe with their wearers — each piece challenged the boundary between ornament and animation. The craftsmanship required for these moving masterpieces boggled the mind. Tiny
Luxury Labyrinth: Inspiration between the catwalks
London Fashion Week just wrapped, and I’m still processing the sensory overload. Three days of shows, installations, and after-parties have left me with a notebook full of observations and a head buzzing with ideas for the second novel. The fashion show has officially invaded my creative process, and I couldn’t
Tiffany’s Vision and Virtuosity
The Saatchi Gallery’s Tiffany exhibition revealed the American jewelry house as more than luxury retailer — they’re custodians of craft traditions spanning centuries. From Art Nouveau masterpieces to contemporary collaborations, each piece told stories about cultural aspiration and technical innovation. The highlight was seeing Tiffany’s role in supporting emerging artists
Homeward Bound
I’m back in London! Two weeks in Russia — the first extended time home since this whole adventure began — and I feel like I’ve been traveling between not just countries, but entire versions of myself. The flight from Sheremetyevo to Heathrow is only four hours, but it might as
Polished Edges is here
My second book, Polished Edges, is officially out today. After last year’s short story collection Between Languages explored immigrant identity and cultural displacement, this book returns to familiar territory: the London beauty industry where I’ve worked for years. The strangest part of publication isn’t seeing your name on a cover,
London, Here I Come
The Thames looked like molten pewter this morning, reflecting the kind of grey January sky that makes you appreciate central heating and strong coffee. I’m writing this from a café in Bloomsbury, watching people hurry past in their wool coats and determined expressions, and feeling that peculiar mix of nostalgia
