Join us in the chancel of Christ Church Cathedral next Wednesday for a special evening with Maria Alyokhina whose life is marked by the costly call of human conscience and the boldness of hope. Maria brings an unbowed voice forged in the crucible of adversity. Through readings from her new book Political girl, she invites all who yearn for justice, peace, and the demanding work of reconciliation to gather for an evening at the edge of our shared humanity.
For more than a decade, Maria Alyokhina’s life and work have stood at the intersection of protest, imprisonment, art, and conscience. From Pussy Riot’s Punk Prayer action to prison, persecution, exile, and outspoken resistance to Russia’s war against Ukraine, her voice has remained unbowed in the face of state violence. A feminist and activist, she has been internationally recognized for her courage, political conviction, and artistic resistance. She was awarded the Hannah Arendt Prize for Political Thought in 2014; the LennonOno Grant for Peace in 2012; the Woody Guthrie Prize in 2023; and she was also designated the first Artists at Risk Resident Prisoner in recognition of her ongoing high-risk activism.
Political girl covers what happened from the time of her release from prison colony to her departure from Russia: a mosaic of protest actions, solitary pickets, killings, poisonings, sleepless nights, fear, grief, and the beginning of a war that paralyzed hundreds of thousands. It is also a work about love, survival, and the attempt to preserve the human face of protest in inhuman times.
With musical participation by Eric J. Breitenbach, a Vancouver musician-producer, and a member of Pussy Riot, this promises to be an evening that brings together reading, witness, sound, and reflection in a space of public listening.
Event: An Unchained Voice: Maria Alyokhina + The Cost of Conscience
Date: Wednesday, March 18, 2026 at: 7:30pm
Doors: 7:00pm
Location: Christ Church Cathedral, 690 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC
Admission: Freewill donation at the door.