Sergio De La Pava will arrive in Moscow as part of the project "Written in the USA / Written in America"

Sergio De La Pava, author of the legendary 864-page novel A Naked Singularity, which has garnered the attention of The Guardian, The Washington Post and VICE, will arrive in Moscow in late November as part of the COLTA project. RU and PEN America "Written in the USA / Written in America."

A lecture by the writer, specially prepared for the meeting with the Russian audience, will be held on November 30 at the non / fiction International Fair of Intellectual Literature. The round table with publishers, writers and Sergio De La Pavoy will be held December 2 at 17:00 in the Library named after F.M. Dostoevsky. The meeting will be moderated by literary critic and journalist Anna Narinskaya.

A few years ago, Sergio De La Pava, a public lawyer from New York, was an unknown author, far from literary circles with their mods and heroes, a writer without connections and useful contacts. He wrote his novel in fits and starts, between court hearings and in the subway on the way home. It was rejected by dozens of publishers, and it is not surprising: The Naked Singularity, an eight hundred-page text about the big city and the judicial system, does not look like a book that will be widely successful. The novel would never have seen the light if the writer’s wife had not insisted that it should be published - at least at her own expense. Surprisingly, he quickly became a cult - to such an extent that soon the University of Chicago publishing house, never engaged in fiction, bought the rights to reprint.

Now “The Naked Singularity” has entered the top lists of The New Yorker and the Wall Street Journal, literary awards and short lists, has earned a comparison with Melville and Pincher, and she has tens of thousands of loyal fans in the English-speaking world.

The amazing story of writing courage and deserved success is only part of the legend associated with Sergio De La Pava. On his first visit to Russia, the author of two uncompromising novels written against the literary mainstream will give a lecture on American literature and writing ambition.

November 30, 16:00 - lecture and Q&A at the International non / fiction intellectual literature fair at the Central House of Artists (CHA).

December 2, 17:00 - discussion in the Library. F.M.Dostoevsky.

Follow the project news on the COLTA website. RU and Facebook (продукт Meta Platforms Inc., компания признана экстремистской организацией, деятельность на территории РФ запрещена) pages.

AWARDS

In October 2010, The Quarterly Conversation published the book A Naked Singularity as “one of the best and most original novels of the decade.” The Wall Street Journal included her in the top ten best fiction works of 2012. In 2013, Sergio De La Pava received the PEN / Robert W. Bingham Prize literary award as the author of the best debut novel of the year. In 2014, the book entered the short list of the British literary award Folio (Folio). In April 2011, De La Pava independently published his second novel, Personae. And in September 2013, The University of Chicago Press published a new edition of this book.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

“Written in the USA” is a joint project of the online publication about modern culture and society COLTA. RU and the international association of writers, poets and journalists of PEN America. The project represents a Russian audience of American writers whose books have gained recognition in the United States, but have not yet been translated into Russian. Each visit of one of the authors to Russia is a lecture for a wide audience and large discussions with Russian publishers, translators and journalists, devoted to the discussion of literary processes in Russia and America. The first author to visit Russia as part of the project was June Lee. June Lee’s books have been translated into more than twenty languages, and in 2010, The New Yorker put it on the list of top 20 writers under the age of 40. In the same year, June Li received the prestigious MacArthur Scholarship. In April 2017, she visited Moscow, gave a lecture at the Stanislavsky Electrotheatre, and met with Russian colleagues at the im. F.M.Dostoevsky.

“Our idea of American literature and American culture is very much determined by what is now being translated into Russian. These are mainly first level bestsellers. Remarkable books and authors whose work does not fit the logic of the “big novel” remain on the sidelines. And this is an important part of various, interesting and expressive literature. We decided to contrast this logic with direct acquaintance with writers. This is an unfamiliar America, America, which we do not know. The authors we bring in represent different parts of the spectrum - and it turns out that our understanding of American literature still needs to be amended and there is much to add, ”says Maria Stepanova, editor-in-chief of the online publication on contemporary culture and society COLTA. RU.

Organizers of the festival: COLTA. RU and PEN America

COLTA. RU is the main site in Russia about culture and society. This is a project of the same team that created and made the famous OpenSpace.ru site for five years. COLTA. RU exists according to a revolutionary model for Russian media: it is a public media, an independent publication that exists without state assistance, without owners and investors, solely on grants and donations from readers. The project is supported by professionals in all areas of culture. The Board of Trustees of the site includes Irina Prokhorova, Alexander Rodnyansky, Julia Shakhnovskaya, Demyan Kudryavtsev, Dmitry Borisov and many others.

PEN America is a non-governmental organization whose goal is to protect free expression in the United States and around the world. We fight for the right of writers to freely express their thoughts, recognizing the power of words in the transformation of the world. Our mission is to unite the writing community to promote creative expression and protect the rights and freedoms that make it possible.

Project partners: F. M. Dostoevsky Library, Non / fiction International Fair of Intellectual Literature.