April 25^th 2025 | 8:00 p.m.

National Archaeological Institute with Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences  

Conversation with:

Maria Stepanova, Russia

Moderator: Biliana Kourtasheva

 

The program on April, the 25th will end with a conversation with the Russian poet, writer and essayist Maria Stepanova!
She is among the most influential voices of Russian contemporary poetry and her poems have been translated into most European languages. Stepanova calls poetry “a form of resistance”. At the end of 2017, her documentary novel In Memory of Memory was published. It is also published in Bulgarian by Janet 45 Publishing, translated by Zdravka Petrova. Upon its appearance in Russia, the book almost instantly became an intellectual sensation. Such unanimity between readers and critics has rarely happened. Among the reviews we can see literally enthusiastic critical texts, such as: “There have been no such books in Russian literature, it is not “another one”, it is “the only one.” (Medusa) and “In Memory of Memory by Maria Stepanova is the most important book not only of this year, but also of the last few years. This is a sophisticated study of the very essence of memory. This book is truly an event. For those who know how to read.” (Echo of Moscow). The novel has been awarded the most prestigious Russian literary awards. It has been translated into 27 languages and was on the shortlist for the International Booker Prize. Together with the release of In Memory of Memory in Germany, Stepanova was invited by the Humboldt University of Berlin as a guest lecturer with a series of lectures and seminars on the (re)construction of the past. Maria Stepanova’s latest novel Focus is also due to be released in Bulgarian very soon.

ⓘ Maria Stepanova graduated from the Maxim Gorky Moscow Literary Institute. She is the author of 14 collections of poetry and three books of essays, and a winner of Russian and international literary awards. In 2023, she received the Leipzig Literary Prize. Between 2007 and 2012, Stepanova founded and was the editor-in-chief of OpenSpace.ru, an independent media that covers contemporary culture and society. In 2012, together with the OpenSpace.ru team, she created COLTA.RU, where the main focus is on topics related to culture and politics. After the start of the war in Ukraine, the site was blocked, along with other Russian independent media outlets. Her opinions and positions on the current political and media situation in Russia have been published in major European editions such as the Financial Times, Corriere della Sera, Svenska Dagbladet, Gazeta Wyborcza.
Maria Stepanova currently lives in Germany.