Texts Elsewhere
IN ENGLISH
“STABBING IN THE DARKNESS AT EMPATHY”, OXFORD WRITERS HOUSE
"Lily Blacksell’s poems, three-dimensional, ripe for the plucking, bursting with sense, are a veritable pick-n-mix of things to feel and think about while alive today, either one by one, savoring carefully, or in bulk, getting giddy with the rush."—Review of There’s No Such Thing by Lily Blacksell
“Discourse in Danger”, Guernica
It’s hard to imagine a time when Russia was not in a state of political tempest. And it’s even harder to imagine a time when the tumult was not creating exquisite literature.
“Conflicts in Kyrgyzstan Foreshadow Water Wars to Come”, Creative Time Reports
Photographer Fyodor Savintsev documents the mountainous landscape, crumbling Soviet irrigation system and new Russian-backed energy infrastructure of Kyrgyzstan, a country at the center of water conflicts that threaten to engulf Central Asia in the coming years.
“United at the Margins: Sochi’s LGBTQ Community”, Creative Time Reports
As international attention focuses on Sochi, host city for a Winter Olympics that has been protested due to Russia’s recent law punishing “gay propaganda,” Olya Ivanova photographs the local gay and lesbian scene and Katya Kazbek comments on the community’s varied perspectives on LGBTQ politics.
“22 Shops And Stops You Have To Visit To Enjoy Paris Like A Native”, The Altitude
In comparison to other metropolises, Paris is small and incredibly walkable, especially its historical center. So if you’re already done exploring the usual staples, such as the Louvre and Shakespeare & Co, and tired of channeling your inner Simone de Beauvoir at Cafe des Fleurs, venture out to our favorite, locals-approved spots all across the city.
“My Perfect Day in New York: Summer in the Village”, The Altitude
New York City is temperamental, especially in the summer. Once the sun gets blazing upon your head, you’ll wish you were in the country. This is the perfect time to embrace the shady lanes that West Village and its surroundings have to offer — without giving up on the urban comforts. Follow our lead to spend a relaxing day while learning about quintessential New York history — no skyscrapers or financiers: just artists, poets and the civil rights movements.
IN RUSSIAN
“hanya Yanagihara's “A Little Life””, Afisha
This week is marked by the translation of “A Little Life” by Hanya Yanagihara coming to the stores. Katya Kazbek thinks that this American novel engenders new social implications in the Russian translation.
“freedom according to Chytilová”, Seance
Vêra Chytilová died recently, and with her an important chapter in Soviet and post-Soviet herstory came to an end. Her films are a major source of feminist art, and not only in Czech Republic and Slovakia.
“13 reasons we all need feminism”, Chastniy Korrespondent
We are all feminists just because we think that women are people, too, and that women deserve the same socio-economic and political rights, as human men. It's that easy. We're all feminists, and we must be proud of it. All of us, including men.
“letter #77”, from Oxford, Theory & Practice
Katya Kazbek has graduated from Parsons the New School for Design in Paris and New York and then became a student at a creative writing master's at the University of Oxford, where she's working on her novel about queerness under the professors' supervision.
“A memo for the intelligent protester”, Ridus
In anticipation of tomorrow's protest rally, the internet is full of various "detainee memos", "protestor memos" and other listicles. However, the most prominent of them is the so-called "memo for the intelligent protestor" that first appeared in Katya Kazbek's blog.
“The big man: Nabokov”, GQ Russia
22nd of April is the birthday of Vladimir Nabokov, the cosmopolitan writer who proclaimed the war on poshlust and emerged triumphant.
“new York vs. Moscow”, The Village
Moscow is becoming a great place to live. A really great place. But New York City is still better: more delicious and interesting.