Eight hosts discussion with Russian professors celebrating Russia’s Open Book: Writing in the Age of Putin screening – June 6

Physicist Dr. Maxim Sukharev and author Dr. Julia Gousseva join Eight to premiere film celebrating contemporary Russian literature

WHAT: Eight, Arizona PBS invites bookworms and history buffs alike to discover the contemporary Russian authors who dedicate their work to continuing one of the world’s greatest literary traditions at a live screening of Russia’s Open Book: Writing in the Age of Putin, June 6 beginning at 4:30 p.m. at Eight Arizona PBS’ Studio A, 6th Floor, 555 N. Central Ave., Phoenix, 6th Floor, Phoenix, AZ 85004. The event will feature light refreshments from Samarkand Restaurant, a performance by harpist Jocelyn Obermeyer and a discussion with professors Dr. Maxim Sukharev and Dr. Julia Gousseva, who will look at the film’s unique exposé of the current generation of Russian literature.

The sheer size of Russia, its brutal climate, the violence of its history and the heroism and genius of its people all have contributed to a world of literature like no other. Russia’s Open Book: Writing in the Age of Putin combines interviews with contemporary authors, literary critics, publishers and their peers with animated sequences created exclusively for the film and dramatic readings in English by host Stephen Fry to showcase the extraordinary writings of Russian authors.

“You may think Russian literature is no more than a catalog of suffering and misery and woe,” says Fry, “but actually it’s so much more than that. There’s so much joy, there’s so much hope, there’s so much about the human spirit in it,” says Fry in the film. These Russian writers “must grapple with the past, live in the present and create fictional worlds that will continue to exist in the future.”

For more information and to register for this exclusive Eight, Arizona PBS event, visit http://www.asset.asu.edu/russia/.

WHO:  Eight, Arizona PBS

WHERE: Eight, Arizona PBS’ Studio A, 6th Floor, 555 N. Central Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85004. (Light Rail accessible from Van Buren stop).

WHEN:  Friday, June 6 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.

Media Contact:  Colleen O’Donnell Pierce
[email protected]
(602) 496-0579
(602) 478-3867 (cell)
Visit azpbs.org/pressroom

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