A Revolver to Carry at Night
with author Monika Zgustova in conversation with Sabrina Jaszi

Join author Monika Zgustova in conversation with translator and writer Sabrina Jaszi on Zgustova's new novel, A Revolver to Carry at Night - a captivating, nuanced portrait of the life of Véra Nabokov, who dedicated herself to advancing her husband Vladimir Nabokov's writing career, playing a vital role in the creation of his greatest works.

Véra Nabokov was in many ways the epitome of the wife of a great man: keenly aware of her husband’s extraordinary talent, she decided to make his success her ultimate goal, throughout fifty-two years of marriage until his death in 1977. In a rich, sweeping novel, Monika Zgustova immerses us in the daily life of this remarkable couple, offering insights into their complex personal and professional relationships. Véra considered herself an independent woman, but was she really, when her husband took up so much space? And without Véra, could Vladimir Nabokov have become one of the twentieth century’s greatest writers?

This event is presented in partnership with the Center for the Art of Translation.

Praise for A Revolver to Carry at Night: “What a fascinating, intimate look into the complex marriage of Nabokov and his wife, Véra, the woman not only behind the man but making the man—without her, his masterpieces might not have been written. With elegant, precise language Zgustova creates a vivid, provocative portrayal of this passionate, enduring relationship. I couldn’t put it down.” —Jeanne Mackin, author of Picasso’s Lovers

Monika Zgustova is an award-winning author whose works have been published in more than ten languages. She was born in Prague and studied comparative literature in the United States (University of Illinois and University of Chicago). She then moved to Barcelona, where she writes for El País, The Nation, and CounterPunch, among others. As a translator of Czech and Russian literature into Spanish and Catalan—including the writing of Havel, Kundera, Hrabal, Hašek, Dostoyevsky, Akhmatova, Tsvetaeva, and Babel—Zgustova is credited with bringing major twentieth-century writers to Spain. Her book Dressed for a Dance in the Snow: Women’s Voices from the Gulag (Other Press, 2020) was a World Literature Today Notable Translation of the Year. Photo credit Drew Stevens

Sabrina Jaszi is a translator and writer based in Oakland, California, working from Russian, Uzbek, and Ukrainian languages. Her co-translation with Roman Ivashkiv of Andriy Sodomora’s The Tears and Smiles of Things was published in Feb. 2024. In 2023 she received an NEA Translation Fellowship to translate Semyon Lipkin's Dekada. Other translations and writings on translation have been published by the New York Review of Books, Astra Magazine, the Paris Review, Subtropics, and Words Without Borders. She is a founding member of the Turkoslavia translation collective and journal.