Pioneer Winter

The second book in the Pioneer series, which catalyzed one of Russia's largest-ever crackdowns on LGBTQ+ representation, continues the story of star-crossed gay lovers 20 years after meeting at summer camp

Yurka and Volodya first meet in 1986 during summer at Pioneer Camp--and it's there that they grow closer and closer, despite the fear and consequences of their illegal attraction.

In this second book in the internationally bestselling series, Yurka, now a professional musician and conductor, is on tour in Kharkiv when Volodya goes to find him to reexamine their shared past. In Pioneer Summer, their story unfolds from Yurka's perspective--and in this touching sequel, we venture into Volodya's upbringing and manhood as he reckons with his own gay identity.

Toggling between 1986 and 2006, Pioneer Winter furthers the story of these star-crossed lovers and the romance that builds between them over the years. Cowritten by a Ukrainian-Russian duo, the series became a runaway TikTok sensation and #1 bestseller in Russia, reaching such heights of popularity that Putin stepped in to ban it.

Now their story continues in Pioneer Winter, a heartfelt romance that will transport English readers to another place and time--and is a testament to love's enduring bonds.

Elena Malisova was born in a provincial Soviet town in the late 1980s, where she lived until she moved to Moscow in the late 2000s. Growing up, she wrote poems that were published in small local newspapers. Sylvanova and Malisova met in 2016 and together began working on Pioneer Summer. In 2022, amid a wave of death threats both authors were receiving, Malisova left Russia. She currently lives in Germany. Kateryna Sylvanova was born in Kharkiv, Ukraine. After graduating from university, she moved to Russia, where she worked in a shoe store and spent her free time writing. In 2022, after Russia began its full-scale war against Ukraine, Sylvanova left Russia and returned to Kharkiv. Anne O. Fisher's most recent translation is Ukraine, War, Love: A Donetsk Diary by Ukrainian writer, journalist, and historian Olena Stiazhkina. Fisher and her husband, Derek Mong, are the incoming coeditors of the literary journal At Length. Read more at www.anneofisher.com. She condemns Putin's ongoing war of aggression on Ukraine.