Carry-On Luggage

What does a person take with them when their native home turns out to be too far away?

An autofiction novel about two years of life in a foreign country, about returning to important cities, and about trying to fit not only possessions, but also family memory passed down from generation to generation into carry-on luggage.

Alёna Kirsanova is a prose writer and playwright. Born in 1989 in Novosibirsk. Her first novel made it into the longlist of the “Lyceum” (Лицей) prize, and her play received a special mention at the independent drama festival “Lyubimovka” (Любимовка).

The heroine of the autofiction novel “Carry-On Luggage,” having lived for two years abroad, goes to the places that shaped her: Saint Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Kyzyl, and Saryg-Sep—so she can see her relatives and untangle the story of her family. She plans to take along items that might replace the feeling of home, but gradually she comes to realize that she will leave with only one backpack—like a true nomad. Only now, unlike her ancestors, the nomad is digital.