‘War diaries’ writer Andrey Kurkov to give 2026 Lancaster International Fiction Lecture

The opportunities and obligations of fiction in a time of war will be discussed by acclaimed Ukrainian novelist, journalist and commentator Andrey Kurkov at the sixth Lancaster International Fiction Lecture.

Speaking in person and online to an audience in the Faraday Lecture Theatre at Lancaster University, Kurkov will talk also about language and culture, and about the challenge of writing in the language of the occupier – Russian – as he responds to the provocation: ‘What can literature do in a time of war?’

Initially a self-published author, the former prison warden, cameraman and screenwriter earned international acclaim in 2001 with Death and the Penguin, his debut novel in English translation.

Following the Russian invasion of Crimea in 2014, he has become well known as an international journalist and commentator on Ukraine.

He has since published three non-fiction books about the war: Diary of an Invasion (2022), a collection of Kurkov’s personal writings and broadcasts from Kyiv; Our Daily War (2024) – a sequel – and, most recently, Three Years on Fire: The Destruction of Ukraine (2025).

His many other novels include The Bickford Fuse, Grey Bees and The Silver Bone, the first in three-part series ‘The Kyiv Mysteries’.

Kurkov is president of PEN Ukraine, the national centre of PEN International, a worldwide association of writers founded in London in October 1921.

The Lancaster International Fiction Lecture will be given on Thursday 12 November at 6.30pm. Register to attend in person via The Dukes: dukeslancaster.org or to attend online via Crowdcast: crowdcast.io.

About the Lancaster International Fiction Lecture

The Lancaster International Fiction Lecture celebrates the diversity of fiction and storytelling from an international perspective, inviting world-renowned authors to discuss the role of literary fiction in life, politics and culture.

The sixth Lancaster International Fiction Lecture is a joint venture with the School of Global Affairs at Lancaster University. Previous speakers include: Juan Gabriel Vásquez (Colombia), Geetanjali Shree (India), Georgi Gospodinov (Bulgaria), Guadalupe Nettel (Mexico) and Xiaolu Guo (China/Britain).