Julia shortlisted for a book not yet completed
Sydney-based Julia Levitina, debut author of The Girl From Moscow, has been shortlisted in the world-wide United Kingdom-based Historical Novel Society’s prestigious First Chapters Competition.
Julia Levitina with her first published book
The nomination is for Julia’s novel-in-progress Beyond the Pale, which is set in the late-1920s in Russia and the Australian outback mining town of Broken Hill.
Julia is shortlisted in the Historical Fiction 20th century category. This was announced on 6 May (United Kingdom – time). She entered the competition in February 2024.
Julia said: ‘I am humbled and honoured to be short-listed for such a prestigious award and by a such respected organisation. But writing is a long process; it involves re-writing, editing, research and more re-writing. So it is exciting to be nominated for my work-in-progress, but there is still much work to do before I make my final submission to my agent and the publisher.’
‘I am also hard at work promoting my debut novel, The Girl From Moscow at literary event, writers’ festivals and booksellers around Australia.’
The Girl From Moscow was released in March by independent Australian publisher, Pantera Press – and launched by New South Wales State Premier Chris Minns. The book was endorsed by Heather Morris, the author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz. In 2022, the Australian Society of Authors shortlisted Julia’s manuscript, The Girl from Moscow for the ASA/HQ Commercial Fiction prize.
Julia writes in English, but Russian is her first language. She was born in Moscow and immigrated to Australia in 1991 as an adult with two children and $200. She now lives in North Bondi, Sydney.
The competition, which looks to recognise and promote excellence in storytelling and the craft of historical fiction, is for the first three chapters of a full-length novel that has not been previously published in any form. The other categories are: Ancient to 16th century; 17th to 19th century; Historical Romance; Historical Crime; Biographical Historical Fiction; Historical Adventure; Historical Fantasy/Timeslip/ Alternate History; and Children’s & Young Adult Historical Fiction. (Julia is short-listed in the Historical Fiction 20th century category.)
The individual category winners will be announced on 10 June, and the overall winner will be announced on 7 September 2024 at the Historical Novel Society’s 2024 UK Conference held in Devon, England.
The Historical Novel Society was founded in the UK in 1997, and Julia participated in the Historical Novel Society Australasia conference at Hurstville in October 2023.
Julia’s debut novel, The Girl From Moscow is timely with current events in Ukraine and Russia under Putin. The Girl From Moscow has been featured in the Weekend Australian as a ‘notable book’ and profiled in several other publications.
Julia is an outspoken critic of the current Russian regime. While it is set in the 1983 Soviet Union and partly in Australia, the novel is relevant in today’s geo-political milieu.
Julia said: ‘One of the reasons why I wrote The Girl From Moscow was that I wanted to tell the truth about the evil empire of the Soviet Union, which the world thought had disappeared. It is disturbing to see that Russia under Vladimir Putin has resurrected Stalin’s regime and is threatening world democracy. The suspicious death of Alexei Navalny shows how Putin can act with impunity and without any regard for human suffering.
‘When I flew to Australia in June 1991, I thought I had left behind the Soviet totalitarian regime. It is back under Vladimir Putin. I also believed that when I was writing – over 10 years – ‘The Girl From Moscow’ – which was inspired by my personal experiences of the inhumanity and decay of pre-Gorbachev USSR – that the Cold War conflict had vanished. I was wrong with the unjust war raging against my mother’s birthplace – Ukraine.’
The Girl from Moscow combines authentic details of Julia’s life with a deep understanding of the female protagonist’s struggle to break free of the clutches of her motherland.
Julia said: “Growing up behind the Iron Curtain, I wanted to be the matriarch who moved countries and created a new life for her children. My parents were Moscow intelligentsia. My grandmother and mother were Ukrainian-born Holocaust survivors. As a teenager, I used to go to Moscow International Airport and dream of escape.
I attended an English language school catering to the children of government officials and diplomats. I am fluent in both Russian and English. But the life of the privileged few left me incensed. There was no equality in the USSR – the newspapers and TV had lied. The ability to speak English opened the world for me but I needed to be careful. I listened to the Voice of America hiding under a blanket so the neighbours would not report us.
My hatred for the evil empire that oppressed and attacked the land of my Jewish ancestors is unabated.”
In The Girl From Moscow, the protagonist, Ella Ashkenazi’s milieu is also based by her time studying in Moscow for a Bachelor of Design and designing sets and costumes for multiple theatre productions across the Soviet Union.
