The StraightForward Foundation presents public pitching of books in Russian for an international audience.
How is the Kremlin creating a global network to combat the LGBT community? When and how will people who committed war crimes be punished? How did Russia organize a system of stealing Ukrainian art? Why was the Soviet intelligentsia powerless in the face of the demand for a “strong hand”? Where did the idea of a special role for atomic bombs in the Orthodox fight against the Antichrist come from? How did people in Donetsk survive ten years of war and occupation? Why was the Soviet intelligentsia powerless in the face of the demand for a “strong hand”?
This will be discussed by the StraightForward fellows — authors of bold non-fiction books about contemporary Russia. Their works will be published in Russian in Europe and translated into other languages. These books are part of a broader international conversation about Russia and security in Europe. It is crucial to hear the voices of those whose interest in Russia is primarily professional. Today, these are German experts in the book industry — people who know what German readers want, which topics resonate with them, and how Russia fits into the current demand for non-fiction literature.
Scholarship fellows will present their books:
- Sergey Bondarenko, historian, author of the book "Society "Memorial “and the struggle for the past in Russia”
- Ksenia Luchenko, journalist, author of a book about the relationship between the church and the government in post-Soviet Russia
- Sasha Kazantseva, sex blogger, educator, journalist, writes a book "Anti-Gender. How the Kremlin Fights LGBTQ+ in Russia and Around the World"
- Anastasia Lotareva, journalist, writing a book "War Will Write Off Everything." Who Commits and Who Exposes Russian War Crimes in Ukraine
- Yegor Mostovshikov, journalist, narrative psychologist, writing a book "Lutfond: How Russia Steals Art and Cultural Heritage from Ukraine"
- Dmitry Durnev, journalist, finishing a book "Where have we been for eight years? Donbass in the 21st century"
Simultaneous translation into Russian and German will be provided for the jury, participants and audience.
Jury members:
- Katharina Raabe - Head of the Eastern European Literature Department of the publishing houseSuhrkamp
- Maria Rayer - translator of books Andrey Platonov, Nikita Franko, Pavel Pepperstein and Dmitry Glukhovsky
- Wolfgang Hörner - head of the publishing house Galiani
- Maria Schlisser - literary agent
- Norma Schneider – journalist, author of a book about independent Russian culture in opposition "Punk instead of Putin"
- Isabel Schneider - bookstore Dussmann
- Jorg Plath - literary critic, journalist, writer
- Evgeny Kogan, founder of the bookstore and publishing house "Babel"
- Maxim Kurnikov, Head of the publishing project and store "Echo of Books"
StraightForward Foundation
A non-profit organization founded by Russian publishers and writers in Germany in 2023. StraightForward aims to combat censorship and imposed narratives on society through the distribution of documentary materials about Russia in the languages of the world, including Russian.
The event is supported by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation.