With Volha Hapeyeva and Lea Ypi 

"Camel Travel", the first novel by the renowned Belarusian poet Volha Hapeyeva is about childhood and youth in the final stages of the Soviet Union. The protagonist grows up in a period of political upheaval in which even daily life can only be mastered with ingenuity and improvisational talent. The child’s perspective narrated in the text depicts the space of growing up in (post-)Soviet Minsk in the 1980s and 1990s – navigating between languages, the impact of systemic change and the politically loaded sphere of family.

In "Free: Coming of Age at the End of History", political scientist Lea Ypi recounts growing up in an isolated Albania, where the economy of scarcity, the secret police and the proletariat determined life. "Ypi succeeds in telling her childhood story in such a way that the reader finds their own experiences reflected in those of the author. At the same time, she leaves no doubt about the differences, the extent of humiliation and suffering that this period meant for Albanians." [neues deutschland] The memoir subtly intertwines the disruption of history, the challenges of daily life and the restructuring of a post-Soviet country, and embeds political and philosophical analysis in a narrative that moves from childhood to adulthood.

Lea Ypi will participate in the event remotely.

Moderation: Tuesday Bhambry
Language: English, German

Tickets & Further Information

The event is part of the special programme Echo Echo. Post-Soviet Cosmopolis at the international literature festival berlin 2022. The series is a cooperation between the "Temporal Communities" Cluster of Excellence and the ilb.