The Russian-Jewish author, Maria Stepanova's novel 'In Memory of Memory' explores Stalinism and the fall of the Soviet Union, was nominated for the Booker Prize in 2021 and was honored with prestigious Leipzig Book Prize for European Understanding in 2023 on Tuesday, April 25 for her volume of poetry, "Girls Without Clothes." It is described as a sensitive and highly poetic study of often hidden violence against the female body and the power imbalance that drives this oppression.
Maria Stepanova is a powerful contemporary voice of Russian literature now living in exile in Berlin. The 2023 award for the Russian-Jewish poet, novelist and journalist who was born in Moscow in 1972 comes amid Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine which has been partly carried out under the guise of saving Russian language and culture in the former Soviet state.
Stepanova, a harsh critic of Vladimir Putin's regime, has praised Ukraine's resistance to the invasion, calling it a fight of "good against evil" in an interview with German public broadcaster RBB.
The Leipzig Book Prize jury noted the importance of a Russian writer willing to speak out. "She helps the non-imperial part of Russia have a literary voice that deserves to be heard throughout Europe," read the jury statement.
"Ukrainians should also be interested in ensuring that the Russian language does not remain the sole property of those who unleashed this war back in 2014 with the annexation of Crimea," Stepanova said. "After all, Russian is also the native language of numerous Ukrainian citizens and an important voice in the unique, diverse choir of Ukrainian culture."
(With inputs from Deutsche Welle, a German news service.)
