ELKOST International literary agency - NEW RELEASE: Kyiv. A Fortress Over the Abyss by Elena Kostioukovitch

Starting February 21, 2025, the book of essays by Elena Kostioukovitch Kyiv. A Fortress Over the Abyss is available in Italy in paper and digital forms on AMAZON.IT and IBS.IT

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RACHEL, a novel by Andrei Gelasimov

Rights sold: France - ACTES SUD, Russia - EKSMO, Spain - CLUB EDITOR (Catalan language), World English - AMAZON CROSSING,

With icons like Chubby Checker and Yuri Gagarin, the Moscow that Svyatoslav Semyonovich inhabits at the onset of the Cold War brims with the flashy visual textures of capitalism. A Jewish teenager on the hunt for black-market tight pants and rock records, Svyatoslav somehow fails to develop his undying love for Lyuba into a happy ending. He finds work in a mental institution, runs off to Kiev with one of the patients, marries a few times, has a son, becomes a professor, and halfheartedly runs interference for the KGB. Always taking great pleasure in the experiences of others, including his patients and lovers, Svyatoslav flounders through his own life but never loses sight of Lyuba, his biblical Rachel, his great love. A professor and close reader of both Russian and American literature, Svyatoslav tries to interpret his eccentric life as if it were a text to be read, only to learn that life happens off the page.

The Collector. The Story of Sergei Shchukin and His Lost Masterpieces, by Natalya Semenova with André Delocque (NF)

Rights sold: World English - YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS, France - CHTCHOUKINE FUND, Italy - JOHAN & LEVI, Romania - VREMEA, Russia - SLOVO, Taiwan (traditional Chinese) - ART & COLLECTION

Winner of the 2021 The Art Newspaper Russia Prize

A fascinating life of Sergei Shchukin, the great collector who changed the face of Russia’s art world

Sergei Shchukin was a highly successful textiles merchant in the latter half of the nineteenth century, but he also had a great eye for beauty. He was one of the first to appreciate the qualities of the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists and to acquire works by Cézanne, Matisse, and Picasso. A trailblazer in the Russian art world, Shchukin and his collection shocked, provoked, and inspired awe, ridicule, and derision among his contemporaries.

This is the first biography of Sergei Shchukin, written by art historian Natalya Semenova and adapted by Shchukin's grandson André Delocque. Featuring personal diary entries, correspondence, interviews, and archival research, it brings to light the life of a man who has hitherto remained in the shadows, and shows how despite his controversial reputation, he opened his collection to the public, inspiring a future generation of artists and changing the face of the Russian art world.