The Toronto International Festival of Authors, in partnership with PEN Canada and CBC Radio’s IDEAS, presents Notes On An Invasion: Masha Gessen and Andrey Kurkov in conversation on Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine.

One of Ukraine’s most celebrated writers, Andrey Kurkov worked as a journalist in Ukraine and did his military service as a prison warder in Odessa before becoming the author of critically acclaimed novels and non-fiction books, including Diary of an Invasion, a first-hand account of the invasion of Ukraine. New Yorker staff writer Masha Gessen is a renowned Russian-American journalist and thinker who has written widely on Russia’s descent into totalitarianism under Vladimir Putin and its global consequences.

Margaret Atwood will provide the introduction to the evening’s subject and authors— both featured speakers have urgent knowledge of the ongoing war in Ukraine, the geopolitical forces at work as well as the political figures behind those forces.

Their conversation, moderated by CBC Radio IDEAS host Nahlah Ayed, will be the third annual PEN Canada Graeme Gibson talk at TIFA, a series founded in 2021 to honour the legacy of renowned Canadian author and writers’ advocate, Graeme Gibson (1934–2019).

This event is supported by its founding sponsor Penguin Random House, and will be recorded by CBC Radio IDEAS. It is produced in partnership by PEN Canada, the Toronto International Festival of Authors and CBC Radio IDEAS.