Maria Stepanova and Sasha Dugdale discuss and honor The Disappearing Act with Sophie Pinkham

The Transnational Literature Series at Brookline Booksmith hosts author Maria Stepanova, translator Sasha Dugdale, and conversation partner and scholar Sophie Pinkham to discuss and honor the release of The Disappearing Act. From the renowned Russian author of In Memory of Memory, comes a stunning new dreamlike work about exile and art. The writer M has lived in the city of B ever since her homeland declared war on a neighboring state. Exiled, she is unable to write there and suffers from loneliness, shame, and despair, but then M is invited to give a reading at a literary festival in a nearby country. After a series of missed connections and mishaps, including losing her phone, she finds herself all alone in the wrong coastal town, befriending a local man and attending the circus . . . In this brief interlude, severed from reality, it seems as if M may finally escape from herself, from her past, from her nationality. She could start all over from scratch and join the circus. Written in Maria Stepanova’s rich and hypnotic prose, The Disappearing Act oscillates between reality and dream, between an oppressive present and a lost past, between life and literature. Hosted by the Transnational Literature Series at Brookline Booksmith, this virtual event was originally recorded on March 21, 2026. Support the author and independent bookstores by buying books from us!