Tag: LGBTQ Russian literature

The International Day Against Homophobia: An Excerpt from Evgeny Shtorn’s The Refugee Chronicles, translated by Alexandra Novitskaya

~ Olga Zilberbourg ~ Leave a comment

Evgeny Shtorn, a writer, activist, and scholar, was born and raised in Soviet Kazakhstan and later lived, studied, and worked in St. Petersburg, Russia. His LGBTQ+ activism made him a target of Russia’s intensifying state-managed homophobia, and in 2018, Shtorn was forced to leave the country. A human rights organization helped him obtain a visa to Ireland, where he received refugee status. As a refugee, Shtorn entered the system of “direct provision” that funnels asylum seekers in Ireland through a series of dormitory-style housing centers. Deprived of the right to work, surviving on basic assistance, and repeatedly questioned and probed by government bureaucrats, Shtorn was forced to share his personal space with strangers, often with incompatible backgrounds.

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Olga Krauze, a profile by Sonja Franeta

~ calisto239 ~ 1 Comment

“Обстрел прекратился в 11:30. Пока всё тихо. У нас в квартире тепло, работает водопровод и центральное отопление. Нет электричества, но светит солнце и на улице тает снег.” [The shelling stopped at 11:30. For now everything is quiet. Our apartment is warm, and there’s running water and central heating. No electricity, but the sun is shining and the snow is melting outside.]

—my friend Olga Krauze writes from Kharkiv, the second largest city in Ukraine. I was interviewing her on Zoom for this profile and we got interrupted. Olga is a poet and singer and I’ve known her since 1991. She has lived in Kharkiv for 12 years with her partner Elina, who is Ukrainian.

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Every Story Deserves a Beautiful Happy Ending: A Review of Contemporary Queer Plays by Russian Playwrights, Edited and Translated by Tatiana Klepikova, by Dante Matero

~ Yelena Furman ~ 2 Comments

Today’s review gives me special pleasure to feature on Punctured Lines, as Dante Matero was my student several years ago at UCLA. As he discusses below, Putin’s Russia is virulently homophobic, while as he also notes, the U.S. has its own share of highly regressive elements. In a heart-breaking and maddening coincidence, this review is coming out just after Russia has enacted its most far-reaching anti-LGBTQ law and in the aftermath in the U.S. of another mass shooting targeting LGBTQ members. Words cannot prevent homophobic laws or stop bullets. What they can do is offer a space of community and solidarity and to amplify marginalized voices. We at Punctured Lines stand with the LGBTQ communities in our old and new homes and are grateful to Dante for highlighting this unique and necessary collection. To support LGBTQ organizations, you can donate to RusaLGBTQ, which helps former Soviet immigrants in the U.S., and which, because of Russia’s attack on Ukraine, has started a GoFundMe for Ukrainian refugees in the U.S.

Continue reading “Every Story Deserves a Beautiful Happy Ending: A Review of Contemporary Queer Plays by Russian Playwrights, Edited and Translated by Tatiana Klepikova, by Dante Matero” →