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»Nein!« ist nicht genug. Autor:innen aus Russland im Gespräch über Krieg und Literatur
“No!” is not enough. Authors from Russia talk about war and literature
Event by: Leibniz-Zentrum für Literatur- und Kulturforschung, Berlin
Location: Pape Persike, Schützenstraße 18, Berlin - Mitte
About event
Since Russia's all-out offensive invasion of Ukraine, untold suffering, destruction and death have reigned there. While societies in Eastern Europe show strong solidarity with those attacked, Russian society is deeply divided. Many who condemned the war had to leave Russia and now live in exile.
The anthology »No!« edited by Sergei Lebedev. – Voices from Russia against the War” (Rowohlt 2025) brings together stories from authors for whom neither lip service against the war nor retreat into seemingly apolitical art is enough. Your texts make it clear: a simple “no” is not enough. In order to open up paths for a different future, there is an urgent need to come to terms with Russia's colonial and imperial past and present.
Sergej Lebedev, Dinara Rasuleva and Nikolai Kononow read stories from the anthology and talk to the moderator Zaal Andronikashvili (ZfL) about current political and artistic needs.
Participants
Sergej Lebedev, *1981 in Moscow, writer and journalist. Author of six novels and a collection of short stories. In his novels he deals with the Russian past, especially the Stalin era with its consequences for modern Russia. Lebedev's books have been translated into more than 20 languages and have been shortlisted for numerous book awards. Published in German: The Sky on Their Shoulders (2013), People in August (2015), Kronos' Children (2018), The Perfect Poison (2021), Titan or the Ghosts of the Past (2023). Sergej Lebedev lives in Potsdam.
Dinara Rasuleva, *1987 in Kazan (Tatarstan), poet of expressionist and performance poetry in Tatar, Russian, English and German. In 2020 she founded a feminist writing laboratory for Russian-speaking immigrants* and, with others, the music and art group TATAR KYZ:LAR. Since 2022, she has been running the Lostlingual project, an investigation into the loss of her native Tatar language through translingual abstract poetry. Her poetry collection Su was published in 2022, the novel Traumagotchi and the multilingual poetry collection Lostlingual were published in 2025. Dinara Rasuleva lives in Berlin.
Nikolai Kononow, *1980 in Moscow, author and journalist. He has published two non-fiction books as well as the novels Uprising (2019) and The Night We Disappeared (2022), both of which were on the shortlist for the NOS Literature Prize, among others. His essays appear in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Lettre International and Jacobin. Nikolai Kononow lives in Berlin.
Entry is free, registration is not necessary.
The entrance to the Eberhard Lämmert Hall is on Meierottostr. 8.
All information under www.z fl-berlin.org/ events-detail/items/no-is-not-enough-russische-autor-innen-im-gespraech-ueber-krieg-und-literatur.html
Fig. above: © Sergei Lebedev
The anthology »No!« edited by Sergei Lebedev. – Voices from Russia against the War” (Rowohlt 2025) brings together stories from authors for whom neither lip service against the war nor retreat into seemingly apolitical art is enough. Your texts make it clear: a simple “no” is not enough. In order to open up paths for a different future, there is an urgent need to come to terms with Russia's colonial and imperial past and present.
Sergej Lebedev, Dinara Rasuleva and Nikolai Kononow read stories from the anthology and talk to the moderator Zaal Andronikashvili (ZfL) about current political and artistic needs.
Participants
Sergej Lebedev, *1981 in Moscow, writer and journalist. Author of six novels and a collection of short stories. In his novels he deals with the Russian past, especially the Stalin era with its consequences for modern Russia. Lebedev's books have been translated into more than 20 languages and have been shortlisted for numerous book awards. Published in German: The Sky on Their Shoulders (2013), People in August (2015), Kronos' Children (2018), The Perfect Poison (2021), Titan or the Ghosts of the Past (2023). Sergej Lebedev lives in Potsdam.
Dinara Rasuleva, *1987 in Kazan (Tatarstan), poet of expressionist and performance poetry in Tatar, Russian, English and German. In 2020 she founded a feminist writing laboratory for Russian-speaking immigrants* and, with others, the music and art group TATAR KYZ:LAR. Since 2022, she has been running the Lostlingual project, an investigation into the loss of her native Tatar language through translingual abstract poetry. Her poetry collection Su was published in 2022, the novel Traumagotchi and the multilingual poetry collection Lostlingual were published in 2025. Dinara Rasuleva lives in Berlin.
Nikolai Kononow, *1980 in Moscow, author and journalist. He has published two non-fiction books as well as the novels Uprising (2019) and The Night We Disappeared (2022), both of which were on the shortlist for the NOS Literature Prize, among others. His essays appear in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Lettre International and Jacobin. Nikolai Kononow lives in Berlin.
Entry is free, registration is not necessary.
The entrance to the Eberhard Lämmert Hall is on Meierottostr. 8.
All information under www.z fl-berlin.org/ events-detail/items/no-is-not-enough-russische-autor-innen-im-gespraech-ueber-krieg-und-literatur.html
Fig. above: © Sergei Lebedev