Russia
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Compartment No. 6 by Rosa Liksom
John Flynn-York reviews Rosa Liksom’s Compartment No. 6, now out from Graywolf in an English translation, today in Rumpus Books.
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The Rumpus Interview with John Reed
John Reed discusses Snowball’s Chance, his parody of Animal Farm, and the lawsuits, debates, and discoveries that followed the book’s publication.
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No Context, No Clue
An ad campaign by Penguin Random House in the UK meant to intrigue readers into purchasing classic books has instead sparked controversy for being anti-Russian. The ad features an unattributed line from the novel Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev: “Aristocracy, liberalism, progress, principles… Useless…
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David Biespiel’s Poetry Wire: The Pale of Vermont
But to become a writer I needed at least to learn about my own superstitions. I needed space in the house to sketch with words. I needed to commit heresies. And those acts had to feel pleasurable.
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This Week in Indie Bookstores
An Estonian bookstore is removing Russian propaganda from its shelves after a request from Ukraine. Check out these amazing bookstores from around the world. The Observer shares some photos of The Ripped Bodice, the first all-romance bookstore in the US that…
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The Panama Papers: A Rumpus Roundup
Over the weekend, journalists announced a leak of 11.5 million files from the law firm of Mossack Fonseca, a Panama-based law firm specializing in corporations designed to take advantage of offshore tax havens. On April 1st, Mossack Fonseca sent a…
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Russia’s Clandestine Censorship
In Soviet-era Russia, publishers had dedicated censors responsible for approving printed material. Many things were prohibited, and the rules were clear. In modern Russia, ostensibly censorship is banned, but complex laws and ambiguous threats have made contemporary publishers far more conservative.…
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Fight to the Death over Literary Genre
Two Russian men found themselves on the opposite ends of an argument over the merits of poetry versus prose. The two were drunk and arguing over which genre was more literary. Poetry won the day when he stabbed prose to…
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The Rumpus Interview with Anthony Marra
Anthony Marra discusses his latest book, The Tsar of Love and Techno, how humor affects literature, how absurdity affects war, and what makes the perfect mixtape.
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The Rumpus Interview with Zarina Zabrisky
Zarina Zabrisky talks about her new book, Explosion, the art of the short story, Russia and Ukraine, and being “a Jewish pessimist in the spirit of Shalom Aleichem.”
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Russian Publisher Steals Authors’ Names
Several western authors have had their names pirated by a Russian publisher that prints books about Vladimir Putin, reports the Guardian. The journalists, analysts, and authors did not write the books nor did they know about their publication. The Russian language…
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Dan Weiss’s Morning Coffee
(Dan Weiss is out on tour with his band The Yellow Dress. He’ll be back on August 3rd.) In galactic news, now we know what Pluto looks like. Ever wonder where all the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge money went? Two…