Celebrated Ukrainian novelist Andrey Kurkov has been one of the most important voices throughout the Russian invasion of his adopted homeland, releasing frequent dispatches from Kyiv and the remote countryside. See him in conversation about Diary of an Invasion, his searing on-the-ground account of the human toll of the war, the interrelated history between the nations, and how language itself has become a battleground in the conflict. Andrey appears live via video with on-stage interviewer Matt Bevan.
Supported by ARA.
Andrey Kurkov (International)
Andrey Kurkov was born near Leningrad in 1961 and graduated from Kyiv Pedagogical Academy of Foreign Languages in 1983. Having completed his military service as a prison guard in Odesa, he self-published his texts and found renown as a novelist. His most recent novel, Grey Bees, portrays the life of a lone beekeeper as he navigates the conflict in eastern Ukraine. Death and the Penguin, the first of his novels to be translated into English, as well as into more than 30 other languages, has been in print since its publication in 2001. Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, Andrey has published unrivalled reports from his war-torn country in newspapers and magazines all over Europe and America. Not only has he been a regular presence on radio and television, including BBC Radio 4’s Letter from Ukraine, but he has travelled far and wide to lecture on the perilous state of his country. He has become, in the process, a crucial voice for the people of Ukraine.
Matt Bevan (Australian)
Matt Bevan is the host and writer of the award-winning ABC News podcast If You're Listening. He has been a journalist at the ABC since 2008, and spent six years as newsreader for Radio National Breakfast with Fran Kelly. In 2022 he was awarded Podcast Host of the Year by Radio Today.
