Kalani Pickhart: I Will Die in a Foreign Land

300 West Camelback Road,Phoenix AZ 85013

20 October, 2021

Description

Limited number of free tickets available. You can also support Changing Hands by purchasing the book below or by contributing what you can. Arizona Author and ASU graduate Kalani Pickhart discusses her debut novel. ABOUT THE BOOK The lives of four people intersect during the 2014 Ukrainian Revolution... Innovative, emotionally resonant, and deeply affecting, this is a more-than-promising debut from a very talented writer. --Kirkus, Starred review This bighearted novel generously portrays the unforgettable set of characters through their determination to face oppression. It's a stunner. --Publishers Weekly, Starred review In 1913, a Russian ballet incited a riot in Paris at the new Theatre de Champs-Elysles. "Only a Russian could do that, says Aleksandr Ivanovich. "Only a Russian could make the whole world go mad." A century later, in November 2013, thousands of Ukrainian citizens gathered at Independence Square in Kyiv to protest then-President Yanukovych's failure to sign a referendum with the European Union, opting instead to forge a closer alliance with President Vladimir Putin and Russia. The peaceful protests turned violent when military police shot live ammunition into the crowd, killing over a hundred civilians. I Will Die in a Foreign Land follows four individuals over the course of a volatile Ukrainian winter, as their lives are forever changed by the Euromaidan protests. Katya is an Ukrainian-American doctor stationed at a makeshift medical clinic in St. Michael's Monastery; Misha is an engineer originally from Pripyat, who has lived in Kyiv since his wife's death from radiation sickness; Slava is a fiery young activist whose past hardships steel her determination in the face of persecution; and Aleksandr Ivanovich, a former KGB agent, who climbs atop a burned-out police bus at Independence Square and plays the piano. As Katya, Misha, Slava, and Aleksandr's lives become intertwined, they each seek their own solace during an especially tumultuous and violent period. The story is also told by a chorus of voices that incorporates folklore and narrates a turbulent Slavic history. While unfolding an especially moving story of quiet beauty and love in a time of terror, I Will Die in a Foreign Land is an ambitious, intimate, and haunting portrait of human perseverance and empathy. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Kalani Pickhart holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Arizona State University. Her first novel, I WILL DIE IN A FOREIGN LAND is forthcoming from Two Dollar Radio (October 2021).  She is the recipient of research fellowships from the Virginia G. Piper Center and the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Intelligence for Eastern European and Eurasian Studies. She is an alumna of the Critical Languages Institute at the Melikian Center for Russian, Eurasian, and Eastern European Studies.  Kalani is an Associate Editor for Tolsun Books and currently lives and writes in Phoenix, Arizona.