FBF: Maria Alyokhina, Political Girl

In 2012, Maria Alyokhina made headlines around the world when she was imprisoned after Pussy Riot performed their punk prayer, Virgin Mary, Banish Putin, inside Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. She spent nearly two years in a Russian penal colony.

Prison did not silence her. After her release, Alyokhina returned to protest and artistic activism as political repression in Russia intensified. She was repeatedly arrested, placed under house arrest and, in May 2022, facing a new prison sentence, escaped Russia disguised as a food-delivery courier.

Her new book, Political Girl: Life and Fate in Russia, is at once memoir, testimony and a manifesto of resistance: an account of grassroots dissent, friendship, courage and the determination to keep speaking when silence would be safer.

For this special Falmouth appearance, readings from the book will come together with music and conversation, with fellow Pussy Riot member Eric J. Breitenbach. Alyokhina will reflect on the experiences behind Political Girl, the role that performance and spectacle have played in Pussy Riot’s activism, and what it means to make art in a society where dissent can carry an enormous personal cost.

There are some people whose lives take them to places most of us will only ever encounter through news reports. This is a rare opportunity to spend an evening in Falmouth with one of them, and to hear that story in her own words.

Falmouth Book Festival: Maria Alyokhina, Political Girl

Saturday 24th October 8.00pm

Tickets: £7.00/£10.00

A £1 Poly Fund payment is added to each ticket sold. A 50p booking fee is also applied per ticket for online and telephone transactions.