On Wednesday afternoon, the Center for Russian, East European, & Eurasian Studies hosted Anna Narinskaya, a Russian journalist and activist, at Weiser Hall for “Poetic Voice from a Russian Prison: Zhenya Berkovich and her Striking Protest.” The lecture focused on Zhenya Berkovich, a Russian director and playwright sentenced to prison in 2024 by the Russian government on charges of “justifying terrorism” in the country. The play, based on a modern retelling of a Russian folktale, depicts Russian women choosing to leave for Syria to marry Islamic State militants after meeting them online. “Just starting maybe half a year before the beginning of the full-scale invasion, she started regularly writing poetry and posting it on Facebook,” Narinskaya said. “I think the significance of poetry and literature — Russian poetry, Russian literature — the significance of that tied with politics and repressive society historically has been there in Russia and the Soviet Union,” King said. “When we look at how the world changes and look at the politics all over the world, I think we need people like Zhenya everywhere,” Narinskaya wrote.