Events

Tomorrow marks something I’ve been anticipating for months – my first literary presentation in Russia. At 7 PM on June 30th, I’ll be at BooksEvents, one of Moscow’s most vibrant book clubs, presenting Omnichannel Hearts to Russian readers. The venue is Library 16 (Novospassky lane, 5, Taganskaya metro), and I can’t help but feel the […]

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

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.

When you speak with people who live and breathe books as passionately as you do, language barriers simply disappear. At the London Book Fair I discussed contemporary literature, digital publishing, and the future of storytelling with Marina. The 2023 London Book Fair at Olympia London brought together more than 30,000 industry professionals, transforming the massive

ECG held their “Voices of Friends: Poetry & Art Almanac” presentation at Yunus Emre Institute on Monday. Same venue where I met Marta Brassart at the Hertfordshire Awards in November. About twenty people. Intimate evening, poetry readings, Guild announcements. Marta read her own poetry, which surprised me. I’d only known her as chairman and publisher.

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 BBC, created Between Two Worlds

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 writer I’d met online mentioned