The male character in contemporary Russian-language fiction is noticeably changing. The victorious hero and bearer of "strong character," familiar from classics and 20th-century literature, is giving way to the figure of a doubting, vulnerable man searching for himself. Millennial fiction explores new models of male identity: conversations about feelings, queer perspectives, and a rejection of conventional narratives of love and success. What does this new hero look like? What is happening to notions of masculinity in literature over the past decade?
This will be discussed by writers whose work directly addresses this topic. Sergey Davydov is the author of the novel "Springfield" and a playwright exploring queer identity and alternative forms of intimacy. Ilya Mamaev-Niles is the author of the coming-of-age novel "The Year of Porn" and the recently published novel "Only High Beam Headlights," which explores the question of how to be a good man and a good person today through the story of relationships and the characters' journeys. Grisha Prorokov is the author of the autofiction novel "Nothing but the Heart," a book about the search for love and identity, asexuality, and emigration.
Sergei Davydov
Ilya Mamaev. Niles Grisha Prorokov
Moderator: writer and critic Vanya Zhirkin