Events

Sometimes the best way to test whether your stories have actual pulse is to watch faces while you tell them. Last night I found myself in Principal Tower’s cinema room, surrounded by the kind of glass and steel that makes you feel simultaneously insignificant and invincible, talking about the messy, impossible journey of turning ideas […]

Tomorrow at 7 PM, I’m sitting down with anyone curious about how stories actually get made. Twelve months ago, I stood in front of fifteen people in Moscow, sharing Omnichannel Hearts in Russian and wondering if these narratives would resonate beyond that room. Now Eastern Empire and Omnichannel Hearts carry awards I never expected —

Yesterday evening at Goethe-Institut’s library felt like stepping into a literary time capsule. The discussion around Iris Wolff’s Blurred wasn’t just another book launch — it was a masterclass in how stories cross borders, both geographical and linguistic. Watching Wolff speak about her Transylvanian childhood while Ruth Martin explained her translation choices from German made

Last night’s reading at Waterstones Bishopsgate was everything I hoped it would be—and more intimate than I expected. When you organize an event yourself, there’s always that moment of uncertainty: will anyone show up? Will the conversation flow? Will the words I’ve labored over resonate when spoken aloud? The setting couldn’t have been more perfect.

Meeting with Lydia about logistics. Pre-production scheduled January-February 2026. Started compiling interview subject shortlist, securing permissions, scouting locations. My next task: sixth and final research memo on technology-storytelling intersection. How digital platforms shape what stories get told and how they’re received. Instagram literature versus traditional publishing. Twitter threads as creative form. TikTok changing what counts

I co-led a creative writing masterclass in Cardiff last week. Literature Across Frontiers seminar on translation and global literature. Topic: bilingual drafting practices. I designed exercises comparing how the same scene works in Russian versus English. Not translation—original composition in parallel languages. Asking writers to notice where one language offers precision the other can’t access.

I spent last weekend in Greenock facilitating book presentations for Eurasian Creative Week. Not speaking. Facilitating. Different skill entirely. ECG organized the event across two venues: Beacon Arts Centre for public programming, OYO Gin House Hotel for workshops. Three days, multiple language streams, writers from across Europe and Central Asia presenting work. Marta Brassart asked

I read from Eastern Empire at Gŵyl Arall last week. Welsh festival, international writers, Literature Across Frontiers hosting. Expected standard literary event format. What actually happened: mid-discussion, a Ukrainian colleague struggled with a passage in English. I switched to Russian to help clarify. Suddenly three more people joined the conversation—audience members who’d been quiet because

Yesterday’s presentation of Omnichannel Hearts at BooksEvents exceeded every expectation I’d quietly harbored. Fifteen engaged readers gathered at Library 16, and what began as a formal book presentation evolved into something far more meaningful – a genuine dialogue about identity, connection, and the spaces between cultures. The questions were thoughtful, sometimes challenging, always illuminating. Someone