Pussy Riot e-book to be published by the Feminist Press

The Feminist Press will be publishing a Pussy Riot e-book later this month, the publisher has announced. “Pussy Riot! A Punk Prayer for Freedom” will be available Sept. 21 from all major e-book retailers.

Members of the all-female Russian performance collective Pussy Riot were arrested in February after performing a political punk rock show in a church. Called a “punk prayer,” their provocative act was meant to address freedom of expression and a variety of failings they see in the administration of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The arrest and trial of three Pussy Riot members -- Yekaterina Samutsevich, Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova -- attracted international attention. Protesters, frequently wearing colorful face-covering balaclavas like the band’s, attended public rallies in England, Poland, the Netherlands, Chile, France, Germany, Italy, Russia and the U.S.

The e-book will include contributions by some of the artists and activists who have publicly supported the all-female punk collective: Yoko Ono, Johanna Fateman, Karen Finley, Justin Vivian Bond, Eileen Myles and JD Samson. It will also, presumably, include the closing statements of the members of Pussy Riot who were on trial (the magazine n+1 has translations online).

As expected, Samutsevich, Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova were found guilty. The three are now serving two-year prison sentences.

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