Issues of our Time: Maria Stepanova – Der Absprung

Thursday, February 27, 2025, 7- 8.30 p.m.
Admission: 6.30 p.m.
In Russian with German translation.
Kunstmuseum Basel | Event Foyer Neubau
Costs: CHF 25/20, Tickets via Literaturhaus

In the new book “Der Absprung” by the celebrated Russian author and poet Maria Stepanova, we follow the protagonist M., who, like the author, lives in exile. She is on her way to a literary festival, where she gradually gets lost and ends up stranded in a nameless place. The story is set in the summer of 2023, while Russia's war against Ukraine rages on. The influence of the “beast” that started the war extends into exile, and the question of whether M. herself is part of this beast torments her, as does the question of how to write when one's own mother tongue suddenly stands for death and destruction. Or does being stranded finally offer the opportunity to shed one's own identity?

A cooperation with the Literaturhaus Basel.

Maria Stepanova, born in Moscow in 1972, is a journalist, essayist and internationally the most successful Russian poet of the present day. She has received many awards for her extensive work. Stepanova currently lives in Berlin.