In the organizer's words:

Maria Stepanova talks to Natascha Freundel about the exile of a Russian author in the novel "Der Absprung".

The story takes place in the summer of 2023. The writer M., who has been in exile in Europe for several months, sets off for a neighboring country where she has been invited to give readings at a festival. The journey is full of mishaps: The scheduled connecting train doesn't exist, the phone's charging cable gets lost. No one is waiting at the border station in F.; contact with the organizers has been broken off. The situation fills her with relief. M. wanders through the city, and what she encounters are all promises of freedom: an escape room, a traveling circus, a fleeting acquaintance - and in the end the long-awaited chance to get rid of her identity and disappear. But can she succeed?

Maria Stepanova, born in Moscow in 1972, is the most internationally successful Russian poet of our time. She has received numerous awards for her extensive lyrical and essayistic work. Her prose debut "After Memory" (2018) has been translated into many languages. She has received numerous awards for her work, most recently the Leipzig Book Prize for European Understanding in 2023. She currently lives in Berlin. Her novel "Der Absprung" (translation: Olga Radetzkaja) was published by Suhrkamp in 2024.

Slavicist Natascha Freundel has been an editor and critic at rbbKultur and host of the debate podcast "Der zweite Gedanke" since 2018. She has reported from Eastern Europe for various media outlets.

The conversation will be held in English. Readings will be in German and Russian.

Price information:

€ 14,-/10,- /6,- (livestream)