The 5th Wave: Russian Writers in Exile (magazine launch)

Russian writers can no longer publish their work in Russia. Therefore, in cooperation with fugitive Russian writer Maxim Osipov, publisher Van Oorschot launches the magazine Fifth Wave, a platform for independent Russian literature. The contributions (prose, poetry and essayism) come from literary authors from Russia and abroad, all united by their rejection of war and totalitarianism.

Totalitarianism has returned to Russia. The number of victims and political prisoners of the regime continues to rise. Every disaster causes an exodus of refugees. The current wave of emigration is the fifth in the last hundred years, and as in the past, writers and readers increasingly need uncensored publications. The aim of this magazine is to meet that need.

Maxim Osipov

About Fifth Wave

Fifth Wave will be published four times a year in Russian. A selection will appear twice a year in English. The first issue – in both Russian and English – will be published per June.

Editing will be under the direction of Maxim Osipov, who previously published the short story collections The World Is Unbreakable and Kilometre 101 with great success. He fled to Amsterdam after the outbreak of war in Ukraine. Van Oorschot has a close relationship with Russian literature and has supported Russian dissidents in the past. Fifth Wave keeps readers informed about independent Russian literature and Russian exile writers.

For repressed Russian writers, it is vital that they can have their voices heard freely and uncensored; it is equally important that readers can continue to read them unfiltered. Fifth Wave is here for the free and independent Russian word.

Menno Hartman (publisher) and Frederike Doppenberg (editor)