ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 transformed the Russian-English literary translation field. It traces immediate reactions from Russian writers, translators, and Western publishers, before analysing the longer-term impact on the Russian literary landscape. Drawing on new interviews and data, the chapter shows how Russian state censorship, exile, and sanctions have reshaped both the production and reception of new Russian prose. As publishing has come under increasing control in Russia through the Russian Book Council and its ‘Expert Centre’, new émigré publishers – including Freedom Letters, BABook, and Vidim Books – have revived tamizdat practices, producing and circulating Russian literature that cannot be published at home. In turn, this has influenced the US and UK literary translation scene – its preference for dissident literature is aptly served by these new novels. This chapter shows that, because of the war and Russia's increasing conservatism, the Russian literature commissioned for translation abroad is increasingly likely to contain anti-war, anti-Putin, pro-Western and LGBTQ+ themes.
