Does Russian Literature Need Support?

In 2024, award-winning Russian-Swiss author Mikhail Shishkin launched the Dar Literary Prize. In an interview with the Asymptote Journal, Shishkin said, “Free literature written in Russian needs assistance.”

Though his statement was simple, this phrase, and the prize itself, went on to spark debate when this year's winner declined to accept the award. Maria Galina, nominated for her book Near the War. Odessa. February 2022 – Lute 2023, sent an open letter now listed on the Dar Prize’s website expressing her hesitancy to participate in a celebration of Russian-language literature when it has been utilized to justify Russia’s imperialist mission in its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The aim of the Dar Prize is to support the Russian-language culture outside of Russia. The award does not consider citizenship status or place of residence. Authors considered for the prize need only write in Russian. Shishkin himself, born in Moscow, has lived in Switzerland since 1995 and for many years has condemned the Putin regime. He has said his aim is to support the Russian diaspora, fostering a global Russian-language community that opposes the regime and its war.

Galina, though also a fervent opponent of Putin’s regime and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has publicized in her open letter her perspective as an author living and working in Odessa, a Ukrainian port-city currently suffering from Russian strikes. In her letter, Galina wrote that “Russian literature, like the Russian language, has been an instrument of soft power that has formed an attractive image of Russia in certain circles — and this probably influenced the motivation of the world community when the fate of Ukraine was being decided.”

Galina’s letter expressed her personal desire for media attention to shift away from the Russian diaspora and Russian literature. Her reasoning goes beyond the opposition of Russia’s use of language as “soft power.” She wrote about the fragmented nature of Russian literature today: Russian literature published abroad is literature of exile, distanced from the nation.  On the other hand, literature published domestically is subject to censorship and repression, making it equally limited.

Galina’s letter has sparked conversation about how to engage with Russian literature while opposing the war. Her book, Near the War. Odessa. February 2022 – Lute 2023, is an autobiographical account of her return to Odessa from Moscow just before Russia’s invasion. In declining to accept the Dar Prize, Galina also declined to have the book translated into English, French, and German.

Her open letter can be read here, and offers a complex argument on the ethics of Russian-language literature consumption.