Posted
October 15th, 2012
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On 10 October, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alyokhina and Yekaterina Samutsevich, the three detained members of Russian punk band Pussy Riot held on charges of ‘hooliganism motivated by religious hatred’ faced their second appeal hearing in Moscow. The hearing lasted approximately three hours and it was announced that the two-year jail term of band member Yekaterina Samutsevich was to be suspended, but that the sentences against her fellow defendants would be upheld. Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina, both of whom have young children, will now be required to serve out the remainder of their two-year sentences in prison colonies, possibly far from Moscow. We will be continuing to monitor developments in the case closely and to do whatever we can to support them over the coming months.
In order to rally support for Pussy Riot in the run up to their appeal hearing in October 2012, English PEN launched ‘Poems for Pussy Riot’, inviting poets from all over the world, including Phill Jupitus, Ali Smith, Deborah Levy and John Kinsella, to write creative responses to the case. We received more than 100 submissions within a matter of weeks and have been posting the extraordinary poems and images as daily online tributes to the band on our website.
An e-book collection of the submissions, CATECHISM: POEMS FOR PUSSY RIOT, edited by poets Mark Burnhope, Sarah Crewe and Sophie Mayer, was published on 1 October 2012 to coincide with their first appeal hearing. Due to popular demand, a print on demand version of the collection is now also available, with all proceeds going to the Pussy Riot Legal fund and our Writers at Risk programme.
We are determined to keep their case in the public eye and will be continuing to post more Poems for Pussy Riot on our website over the coming weeks. Please help us by downloading, reading, sharing, tweeting, translating and remixing the amazing work produced by our Poets for Pussy Riot.
Download the e-book: ePUB, Kindle and PDF versions available
The book is distributed on the ‘Pay What You Think It’s Worth’ model popularised by Radiohead and others. We recommend £5, but any amount is welcome and you can download for free if you wish.
Order your print on demand copy
Due to popular demand, a print on demand copy of CATECHISM: POEMS FOR PUSSY RIOT is now available, and costs £7.95 (+ P&P). We’d also be really grateful if you could spare a few minutes to rate and review the book.
*** All profits from both e-book and print on demand copies will go to the Pussy Riot Legal fund and the English PEN Writers at Risk Programme. ***
Our Poets for Pussy Riot have been performing their work at public events across the UK and Ireland. To view videos of their performances, please see the Poems for Pussy Riot YouTube channel.
[...] Catechism is a broad, open-hearted project, an anthology of poems for Pussy Riot, to which 110 poets donated their work in solidarity with the imprisoned protest group. As the editors say, it is “a cornucopia of approaches to freedom and to feminism” – a project which glories in and suffers from its wide range in equal measure. [...]
[...] Visit English PEN’s Poems for Pussy Riot project page. [...]
[...] Visit English PEN’s Poems for Pussy Riot project page. [...]
[...] Catechism: Poems for Pussy Riot can be downloaded at http://www.englishpen.org/the-poems-for-pussy-riot-project/ [...]
[...] involvement began in September when I saw a tweet from English Pen about their Poems for Pussy Riot project and wondered if I could contribute something to it. I submitted a poem, Tricky Disco, and, as [...]
[...] the nine-month anniversary of Pussy Riot’s performance in a Moscow Cathedral by reading from Catechism: Poems for Pussy Riot, English PEN’s anthology for the [...]
[...] Catechism for Pussy Riot. The book is available for a small donation via the English PEN website, here. I read it Wednesday 21/11/2012 at the Grand Social as part of this event, and which I have [...]
Real Wonder! In Russia spite, lies, slander and bootlicking of a raving crowd turned three ugly ducklings into beautiful white swans. Where else it is possible ?
[...] altogether, such as ‘Pair Bond’ and ‘Hexic’. ‘Pair Bond’, which recently appeared in Poems for Pussy Riot, is a playful tribute to Dolly Parton. Seen from the viewpoint of a barmaid, Smith lists an [...]
[...] ‘Old Rhymes: A Hypothetical Interview’ was written specifically for and published in Catechism: Poems for Pussy Riot (English PEN, October). This last one was also translated into Russian here, which is awesome [...]
[...] in response to current events, earlier that year they also edited, along with Mark Burnhope, an anthology with PEN in support of Pussy Riot. Since then, Mark Burnhope and Sophie Mayer (along with Daniel Sluman) [...]