Please note: this event will be held in Russian. All discussion, Q&A, and materials will be in Russian only and, on this occasion, no translation will be provided.
Join us for the discussion of Don’t Close Your Eyes, a raw and unflinching survival diary by Olesya Gerasimenko, one of the most renowned journalists writing in Russian. Her book has just been published by Freedom Letters and is shortlisted for the special PolitProsvet award from one of the most prestigious Russian-language independent book prizes, Enlightener (Prosvititel) given for books on pressing topics of contemporary socio-political discourse. In her work, Gerasimenko guides us through lives caught in the crossfire – the unsung, the broken, the ones the war didn’t ask: deserters, overworked medics, mothers driven to despair, people working in sex industries, and others silenced by trauma and circumstance. She reveals their stories and hers: of emigration, depression, burnout, and the determination to bear witness despite fear. This is more than reportage; it’s testimony and reckoning, a plea not to look away. Olesya’s book offers truth which is not always comfortable – and in truth, perhaps, a way forward.
Olesya will talk about her work, answer your questions, and engage in a discussion about journalism, war, and the state of affairs in modern Russia.
Olesya Gerasimenko is a distinguished Russian-language journalist and investigative reporter. After working as a special correspondent for Kommersant, and later with the BBC’s Russian Service, Olesya started to write for Verstka, one of the leading independent online media outlets in Russian.
She left Russia in March 2022, and in 2024 she was officially designated a “foreign agent” by Russian authorities, a label which stigmatises journalists and complicates their ability to do independent reporting in exile. She is a recipient of the Klebnikov Russian Civil Society Fellowship (2014) and multiple journalism awards for both investigative pieces and human-interest reportage.
Sergey Goryashko is a Russian journalist who started at Kommersant and joined the BBC Russian Service in 2016. He has worked in Moscow, Washington, and Brussels, specialising in Russian domestic and international politics. Sergey investigated the FSB's work on treason cases, wrote about the Wagner PMC's activities in Africa, and studied the shadow market for Russian arms in the Middle East. He is a recipient of the Editorial Board and Profession: Journalist awards.
5a Bloomsbury Square London WC1A 2TA