London is proud to welcome Russian-French journalist, writer and LGBTQ activist Sergey Khazov-Cassia who will be reading extracts from his novel The Gospel According To…, a story of queer repression and liberation in modern Russia, translated to English by Reuben Woolley.
For years Sergey Khazov-Cassia has been travelling in Russia, writing and filming about its people and its system, witnessing state injustice and individual courage. His two novels are now banned within Russia due to anti-LGBTQ legislation, he has been a victim of attacks and police pressure, yet he stayed in the country until it became totally unsafe for opposition journalists, and fled Russia after the invasion of Ukraine.
The Gospel According To… is what can be called documentary fiction, it is based on real events that have happened to real people, the author himself, and others who met with the repressive machinery of an authoritarian state. Even the biblical part of the novel is no invention but based on apocryphal gospels, damned by the Church.
The reading will be followed by a Q+A with activists Steve Wardlaw and Dan Glass and then an autograph session, and you will be able to buy the book.
On the night we will be collecting donations for United Queerdom - A vibrant community of LGBTQI+ migrants and asylum seekers in the UK 🏳️🌈 and Moscow Community Center
Polari Press was established in 2020 and has released nine books by queer authors over the past two years including art, poetry and memoir. Taking its name from the secret queer slang Polari, it is an independent publishing house and design studio which seeks out hidden voices and helps them be heard.
English PEN is one of the world’s oldest human rights organisations, championing the freedom to write and the freedom to read around the world. They are the founding centre of PEN International, a worldwide writers’ association with 147 centres in more than 100 countries. They award literary grants for translating new works into English.