In “The Conversion,” one of eight short stories collected in Katherine Shonk’s first book, The Red Passport, an American named Tom travels to Pushkin, outside Saint Petersburg, to visit a Russian couple he and his ex-girlfriend befriended while living abroad. Their house is full of relics of his failed relationship–his ex’s clothes, her books, her computer, her spice rack, all turned over to their friends after the breakup. As the visit turns awkward and sour, these shards of his past become an oppressive reminder of the fractured connection between Tom and his Russian friends, who’ve got problems of their own, thank you very much.
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Shonk followed her boyfriend to Russia in 1995. Born in Chicago and raised in Evanston, she’d never lived outside Illinois before moving in with him in Moscow, where he’d opened a travel agency. Then 26, working as a secretary at Northwestern and trying to gain a foothold as a fiction writer, she was excited by the prospect of an adventure abroad. It was the height of the demented lawlessness of the new Russian economy; Yeltsin was getting reelected and the first Chechen war was gathering steam. Still, she says, daily life was at times as mundane as back in Chicago. She got a job at the Moscow office of Ernst & Young and spent a lot of time “just navigating buying groceries and paying bills.” She barely spoke the language at first, but soon made Russian friends and “finally got enough Russian that I could try and get into their heads.”
Shonk’s stories are full of intimately observed details of life in postcommunist Russia, where the rules are constantly changing and even the best intentions can backfire. She’s got a particularly keen eye for the inevitable and yet inevitably surprising confusion that ensues when cultures collide. A pair of elderly pensioners struggle to engage the free market by selling poetry on the street; an optimistic American grapples with the expectations of her Russian suitor, a moody former soldier who hopes to use her as a ticket to freedom (or at least get her to pay for new glasses for his younger brother). Intra-American conflict isn’t exempt: in the final story, “Honey Month,” Shonk turns her attention to the peculiar phenomenon of the expat gone native, as an American woman stranded in Prague comes to realize that her fiance is more in love with Russia than he will ever be with her.
From 3 to 4:30 on Saturday, November 1, Shonk will appear with Aleksandar Hemon, Oscar Casares, and Jessica Hagedorn on a panel on cross-cultural literature titled “Beyond Borders, Beyond Labels.” Part of the Chicago Humanities Festival, it’s moderated by Carolyn Alessio and takes place in Symphony Center’s Buntrock Hall, 220 S. Michigan. Although the festival lists the event as sold-out, tickets ($6) may be available at the door 20 to 30 minutes prior to the program. At 7:30 on Wednesday, November 19, Shonk will give a free reading at Women & Children First, 5233 N. Clark. Call 773-769-9299.
