Lea Ypi and Pieter Waterdrinker Chaired by Boyd Tonkin

Albanian academic Lea Ypi and Dutch novelist Pieter Waterdrinker discuss their experiences of living under communist systems as they collapsed and ushered in an often turbulent new order.

Ypi, professor of political theory at London School of Economics, grew up in Albania. In Free: Coming of Age at the End of History, she describes growing up in a country where communist ideals had officially replaced religion. Everything changed in 1990, but freedom brought bankruptcy and violent conflict, leading her to question what freedom meant.

Waterdrinker, a successful Dutch novelist, found himself living in the Soviet Union as a tour operator with a sideline in contraband bibles at a time of huge turmoil. Thirty years later he still lives in Saint Petersburg with his Russian wife. In The Long Song of Tchaikovsky Street: a Russian Adventure, he reflects on those years and on the divided soul of Russia.

Discussions are chaired by author, journalist, literary critic and chair of the 2016 International Booker Boyd Tonkin.