Russian writers are no longer able to publish their work freely in their home country. In collaboration with Russian refugee writer Maxim Osipov, Van Oorschot Publishers is launching Fifth Wave, a magazine that will offer a platform to independent Russian writing.
Fifth Wave will be published four times a year in a Russian edition, a selection of which will be published twice a year in English. The first issues – one in Russian and one in English – was launched in June 2023. All contributions (prose, poetry and essays) will be by literary authors from Russia and abroad who are united in their rejection of war and totalitarianism.
Maxim Osipov, who previously authored the successful short story collections Rock, Paper, Scissors and Kilometer 101 took on the role of editor-in-chief at the magazine. He fled to Amsterdam after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. Van Oorschot has close ties to Russian literature and has supported Russian dissidents in the past. Fifth Wave aims to keep readers informed about independent Russian literature and Russian writers in exile.
Menno Hartman (publisher) and Frederike Doppenberg (editor): ‘It is essential that suppressed Russian writers are able to write freely and without censorship; it is equally important that readers can continue to access them unfiltered. Fifth Wave is here to promote the free and independent Russian voice.’
Maxim Osipov: ‘Totalitarianism has returned to Russia; the number of the regime’s victims and political prisoners continues to grow. Each catastrophe triggers an exodus of productive people from the country. The current wave of emigration is the fifth in the last hundred years or so, and like before, readers and writers feel an increasingly urgent need for uncensored publications. The purpose of this magazine is to play a part in satisfying that need.’