When Ukrainian bestselling author Andrey Kurkov visited us last year to discuss his Diary of an Invasion, reflections from the first year of Russia’s war on Ukraine, tickets were snapped up in days. We expect the same for this event, albeit for a lighter subject: Kurkov’s intriguing, atmospheric thriller The Silver Bone is a “gift for crime fiction fans” according to the New York Times, and a Times and Financial Times 2024 pick. He’ll speak about how the story takes inspiration from the real archives of crime enforcement agencies in Kyiv in 1919; why humour is so important to him in this work—and all others; and why he enjoys mastering so many genres, always with probing intellect, insight, and wit. Moderated by Maria Reva.
Andrey Kurkov’s appearance presented thanks to the generous support of Lauren Dembicky-Polivka, in memory of her father.
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Born near Leningrad in 1961, ANDREY KURKOV was a journalist, prison warder, cameraman and screenplay writer before becoming a novelist. Death and the Penguin, his first novel to appear in English, was an international bestseller and has been translated into more than thirty languages. In addition to his fiction for adults and children, he has become a commentator and journalist reporting on Ukraine for the international media. He lives in Kiev with his British wife and their three children.
Andrey Kurkov’s appearance presented thanks to the generous support of Lauren Dembicky-Polivka, in memory of her father.
MARIA REVA writes fiction and opera libretti. She is the author of Good Citizens Need Not Fear, a linked story collection set in an apartment block in Soviet Ukraine. Maria’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, McSweeney’s, The Wall Street Journal, The Best American Short Stories, and elsewhere. She won a National Magazine Award in 2019 and was a finalist for the Writers’ Trust of Canada 2020 Fiction Prize. In November 2022, she was included on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s list of sanctioned Canadians who are forbidden from entering Russia. Her current musical collaborations include a children's opera commissioned by Opéra de Montréal and the Memorial University of Newfoundland. Maria was born in Ukraine and grew up in New Westminster, BC. She received her MFA from the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas.
