Kaliningrad gets an unusual literary event this January. I’m bringing Blank Spots home in a completely new format.
January 2nd, 1 PM at Ibis Hotel. We’re creating an immersive journey through the novel’s structure. Three stations, each representing a different stage of psychological recovery.
The MC wakes up on a night train with amnesia, carrying only a sketchbook. Sound familiar to anyone who’s ever felt disconnected from their own creative work?
We’ll start in darkness, move through recognition, end with acceptance. Interactive art exercises included because passive consumption isn’t how healing works. Neither in fiction nor reality.
Writing Blank Spots taught me that trauma doesn’t just block memories. It fragments identity itself. My protagonist rebuilds himself through art.
The 1998 setting wasn’t accidental. Pre-internet era when geographical escape actually meant something. When mental health resources barely existed in post-Soviet space.
Bringing this story back to Russian soil feels surreal. Four years ago I was drafting first chapters in Brighton lecture halls. Now we’re discussing art therapy and dissociative amnesia with live audience participation.
Free entry, 12+ age rating. Questions about neuroscience of creativity welcome. Expecting discussions about memory, identity reconstruction, and why strangers can save us when family cannot.
Bridge metaphors included. Therapeutic drawing exercises mandatory. Bring tissues, not for tears but for charcoal smudges.
See you there.
Venue: Ibis Hotel conference hall, Kaliningrad
Time: January 2nd, 1 PM
Daria Ryzhikova Writer