British and US bestsellers hit by purge in Russian bookshops
A Russian book distributor has ordered bookshops to "return or destroy" works by the Pulitzer Prize-winner Jeffery Eugenides and the British bestseller Bridget Collins, among others, in the latest case of censorship targeting the country's literary scene.Trading House BBM sent a letter to shops this week, seen by the BBC, with a list of 37 titles that should immediately be removed from sale.The list also included texts by Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek, Japanese novelist Ryu Murakami, and a number of Russian writers.The order comes amid growing Kremlin censorship since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which has targeted books featuring anti-war sentiment, LGBTQ themes, and criticism of Russia's leadership.
The letter warned of "adverse consequences" if books such as Eugenides' The Virgin Suicides and Murakami's Ecstasy were not pulled from shelves as there were suspicions they "do not comply with Russian laws," without providing further details.Booksellers should "immediately cease sales and return [the titles] or destroy the remaining copies, providing writing confirmation of destruction", the message said.The targeted books are an eclectic mix.Bridget Collins' book The Binding, about an apprentice bookbinder, features, as does An Oral History of Reggae by David Katz, along with Lisi Harrison's romance The Dirty Book Club.The letter was signed by BBM's chief executive Anastasia Nikitanova, who hung up when the BBC approached her for comment and did not respond to further messages."We checked the list and we don't have these books in stock now," an employee of one of the shops that had received the letter told the BBC on condition of anonymity.They continued: "If we did, we could have tried to understand what's wrong with them. I have no idea why the publisher chose these books… it's a sign of the moral panic that has overtaken the market."The newly banned books were released in Russia by the publishing houses Ripol Classic and Dom Istorii, which are affiliated with BBM.Sergei Makarenkov, the head of Ripol Classic, said: "I think [the list] is most likely connected to the anti-LGBT law. This needs to be clarified with BBM… I can't clearly explain to you what has happened here.""Such lists appear everywhere now, it's become completely routine," he added. Makarenkov said he would get back to the BBC when further details were available but at the time of publication had not responded to follow-up calls.Russia banned the promotion of "non-traditional sexual orientations" to minors in 2013 but since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine has expanded the law to forbid "LGBT propaganda" being disseminated among people of any ages.Moscow has also labelled what it calls the "international LGBT movement" an "extremist organisation," despite no such official movement existing.The BBM letter follows a high-profile case against the publishers behind the teen romance novel A Summer in the Red Scarf and other titles with LGBT themes.On 15 May, a Moscow court placed under house arrest managers from Popcorn Books and Individuum - which are part of Russia's largest publishing group, Eksmo.Additional reporting by Sergei Goryashko
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