Masha Gessen Considers Leaving Russia

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – May 22, 2013) One of Russia’s most internationally renowned journalists, Masha Gessen, has said that she will probably move to New York to join her son, who is studying in the U.S.

Gessen, 46, moved with her family to the U.S. in 1981, returning to Moscow to establish a career as a journalist covering Russia for The New Republic, Slate and the New York Times.

In an interview to New Zealand-based online journal The Lumiere Reader, Gessen cited a loss of hope in Russia’s future as the main reason why she would leave.

Gessen, a former columnist for The Moscow Times, has authored several books on Russia, including a critical biography of President Vladimir Putin titled “The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin” ­ a work she says was written in secret, with only her partner and editor knowing about it before publication.

A prominent LGBT rights proponent, Gessen is currently working on a book about embattled all-female punk band Pussy Riot.

In April, Gessen quit as director of the Russian-language service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty after seven months in the job to write a book on the Boston Marathon bombings. The book is set to be published by Riverhead Books, an imprint of Penguin Group.

Gessen’s tenure at Radio Liberty was rocky, with many staff being fired and many more resigning in a show of solidarity.

Following her sacking from the Vokrug Sveta magazine in September, Gessen met with Putin in the Kremlin, where she was given the chance to “argue” over many of her works with the head of state.