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Head of Freedom Letters publishing house about the book market in Russia – DW – 04/27/2023
TIME.NEWS
Georgy Urushadze, the former general director of Russia’s most prestigious literary award, Big Book, announced in April this year the opening of a new publishing house outside of Russia. It prints the writer Sergey Davydov, who emigrated to Germany, the famous Kyiv Russian-speaking poet Alexander Kabanov, and republishes Yuli Dubov’s Big Ration, a novel whose hero is easily guessed as Boris Berezovsky. DW correspondent spoke with the publisher about his plans and what is happening now with books in Russia.
DW: How would you describe your publishing house right now? Is this a startup? I see you are posting jobs now?
George Urushadze: These are vacancies for volunteer positions. Yes, it’s a startup. We can say that we are sculpting a new Amazon in the garage. This is a joke, of course. We don’t care about that. In any case, we are already selling on the real Amazon, so everything is fine.
– I did not quite understand whether your publishing house will release paper books? Or just electronic?
– At first I thought that we would only start dealing with paper books by the fall, but now there are opportunities to do everything quite quickly. And the book trade is in great demand.
– Is the book trade in question located outside of Russia?
– Outside of Russia, but I think that one way or another the books will still end up in Russia. And with tourists, and with parcels, and somehow else. Let’s see. The Russian book trade has no reason not to take our books for sale – probably, except for topics that are difficult for them. Sergei Davydov’s book may not even be accepted. But I think that this is such a strong and good novel that it will find its way.
– Davydov’s book may not be taken because of the LGBT theme? Russian law forbids it.
– Certainly. But, you see, this law is strange and can be interpreted in any way. In principle, according to this law, nothing can be distributed, and the sale of books is distribution. That is, bookstores may simply be afraid of some problems. In addition, now denunciations are flourishing in the country, some appeals to competent and not very competent authorities will begin. In general, we’ll see. I’m ready for different adventures. It’s even interesting.
– And in what countries do the people involved in your publishing house live? Sergey Davydov, as far as I understand, lives in Germany – in Stuttgart.
– One of our proofreaders lives in Holland, one of our typesetters lives in Latvia, yesterday the first donation arrived – from Berlin. All people have dispersed around the world. There is also someone in Moscow. I encourage them to work under a pseudonym just in case. The main thing here is not to be afraid, but always have a “plan B”.
– And where are you, if not a secret?
– I myself changed several countries during the preparation. Basically, I’m in London.
– What is happening in Russia now in the book market?
– Firstly, the state really did not get to the books. It’s not a priority. Because books are for the smart ones. There are not very many of them. Literally a few years ago, Khodorkovsky’s book was sold in the Moskva store – and on the priority display, everyone saw it. Both the current z-patriots and the current departed liberals took part in many processes. It never occurred to anyone to segregate someone. The book market is special in this sense. It is not perceived as an ideological front.
Next stroke. Since many people left and ceased to be published in Russia, it seemed that a clearing for z-patriots was being vacated. I don’t want to write. Publish. You will be placed. Advertise. All resources will be given. More than a year has passed. And nothing! They try to make some kind of festivals, they try to recite their poems – usually very bad ones. There are some strong authors in these circles, but they are very few. And there are no new ones!
Books published by “Freedom Letters”Photo: Freedom Letters
Next stroke. It seems to me that the authorities treat z-writers and the frenzied public, who write in telegram channels that it is urgent to carry out a cultural special operation, like clowns. Although the profession of a clown is a worthy one, but these are completely worthless people. They are not given any money or a normal platform, they are furious and write denunciations. So it’s not all that bad so far. Those who expected immediate bonfires on the Opernplatz must have been disappointed. The state in terms of books really behaves in a smart way. No need to forbid, because the forbidden fruit is sweet. Everyone will start chasing after it, reading and so on. We must not pay attention. The fact that I created a publishing house was written by the only media in Russia – this is Novaya Gazeta. But the information spread well in the blogosphere and z-patriots played a big role in advertising. They began to write, what a disgrace it is. And everyone understood: good boots, you have to take them.
– And how do you yourself look at the future of the Russian book market?
– The space is still shrinking. There are many topics that you can’t write about. And the authors simply do not work on these topics – why work in vain. We are ready to take these texts. The main question is how long this khton will last. I have a feeling that it will not last very long, but on a historical scale it will generally fly by like an instant. The first 14 months have now passed. There was no disaster in the book market: strong authors who oppose the war can be sold in bookstores. A case was brought against Dmitry Glukhovsky, and his publisher said that she still wanted to publish it. This is a bold and far-sighted statement.
– Don’t you think that the worse things go in Russia, the better it will be for your publishing house?
– No. I am calm for my publishing house. I have no position that the worse it is in Russia, the better for us. We have a huge number of interesting ideas, topics and authors. In May we will publish an absolutely wonderful book. The man wrote: “Can I send you?” Of course you can. And ten minutes later I was a happy publisher because I discovered a new genius. I wish everyone inside Russia – both writers and publishers – to survive. Save yourself and your position. One of the topics – I think that we need to record what is happening in Russia, study the phenomenon of z-patriots, all z-propaganda, prepare cases, if not for the Hague court, this is not our business, then at least for the court of history. A truly independent publishing house does not depend on what is happening in Russia. We have our own program, we are doing it and will continue to do it.
– But you are an anti-regime publishing house?
– We are compared, of course, with “Posev”. I strongly object. Because we are not a publishing house that is against “Soviet power.” “Soviet power” cannot be defeated in this way. She periodically pretends to be dead, then comes to life, is reborn, and again suits everyone with “Kuzkin’s mother.” Our task is to reach out to those who want this hand. Of course, we can record how the country is falling into some kind of abyss. But only people can be saved – individually. You see, who would not come further, even if a “democratic revolution” happens and someone new comes … The problem is that he will act with the same methods that the current government operates: tough propaganda, tough segregation, tough criminal penalties against those who are against. And I definitely don’t want to be a part of it. The revolution, whatever happens, will devour its children. Our task is to think about culture with a capital letter, about the salvation of individuals, future generations, and so on. I think that Russia is incorrigible for the next two or three generations, at least in terms of books. I don’t want to be involved in political matters.