November 24, 2025 Newspeak: Authoritarianism Is Good A new state dictionary has changed definitions, praising authoritarianism and promoting "traditional values." Dissent Language Law Literature Politics St. Petersburg
October 14, 2025 Russia's War on Books: A Censored Translation A Russian publishing house censored a part of an American author's book that advocated for trans rights. Culture Dissent Government Law Literature Politics Pop Culture
October 01, 2025 Goats and Rebels Reviewing a comic novel and a book on the state of dissent in Russia. Humor Literature Memoir
September 22, 2025 Women Looking at War Two female Ukrainian authors have been honored in Germany’s Hotlist literary awards for 2025. Literature War Women
September 20, 2025 A Modern Fairy Tale The Ukrainian journalist Anastasiia Marsiz’s first novel, set in modern Italy, reads in the literary tradition of skazki, Eugene Onegin and Tolstoy’s folk tales. Literature
August 25, 2025 More War, Fewer Books Ukrainian book sales are decreasing, but demand for English-language literature is on the rise. Business Economy Literature
August 22, 2025 The Vanishing Books of Dmitry Bykov Author Dmitry Bykov's books are disappearing from shelves after Russia placed the writer on its international wanted list. Law Literature Russians Abroad
August 04, 2025 Neither Master Nor Margarita Russia bans the "International Satanism Movement," demonstrating the modern interpretation of Mikhail Bulgakov's classic "The Master and Margarita." Film & TV Government Literature Religion
July 07, 2025 Fiction Stranger Than Life Modern Russian literature is leveraging a science fiction trope to rewrite history. History Literature Military Pop Culture
June 30, 2025 Does Russian Literature Need Support? Author Maria Galina declined to accept the 2025 Dar Literary Prize, sparking debate over engagement with Russian-language literature in wartime. Dissent Language Literature Russians Abroad
June 30, 2025 Russia's Forgotten Female Poet Karolina Pavlova struggled to find literary acclaim as a woman in the 19th century, but her work endures. Language Literature Women
June 16, 2025 Vladimir Mayakovsky: A Century of Censorship Vladimir Mayakovsky sports a complicated legacy a nearly a century after Joseph Stalin immortalized him as the defining poet of the Soviet epoch. Literature Memoir War