The 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi blast off in just a few short hours—but despite transcontinental fanfare, Russia’s severe censorship and anti-homosexuality laws have already (rather predictably) overshadowed this year’s Games. Over 200 authors have signed a petition with the international PEN Center, including the likes of Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie, and Günter Grass, in an open letter condemning Putin’s recently passed gay propaganda and blasphemy laws. In Guernica, an interview with investigative journalist Masha Gessen on Russia’s shrinking public space and the “personal catastrophe” of self-imposed exile. Masha Gessen edited OR Books’ recently published Gay Propaganda: Russian love Stories, putting faces to those affected by the oppression (read excerpts here). Amid political controversy, the PEN Center brings light to an often-overlooked element of contemporary Russia: what’s the literary scene like today? We’ll give you a primer: check out three contemporary Russian women poets or ten wonderful Russian novels you probably haven’t read yet.

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