War against Ukraine: A Scottish publisher’s dilemma over publication of stories penned in Belarusian jail

​A Scottish publisher has told how it made the decision to publish a series of short stories sent directly from a jail in Belarus – following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

​The Zekameron, by Belarusian lawyer and campaigner Maxim Znak, who is still a political prisoner in the northern Belarusian city of Viciebsk, is a book of 100 short stories detailing life behind bars in the country known as Europe's last dictatorship.

Mr Znak, who worked for the campaign of an opposition pro-democracy candidate, Viktar Babaryka, during the last election in Belarus in 2020, was sentenced to ten years in prison for taking part in anti-government demonstrations following the vote.

Jean Fraser, head of publishing at Scotland Street Press, said she was worried about the political implications of publishing the book and feared for Mr Znak’s safety. But she was convinced of the book’s importance when Russia launched its attack on Ukraine last year, with Belarus a key ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Maxim Znek's colleciton of short stories was written in prison in Belarus, where he is still serving a ten year sentence.

Mr Babaryka was imprisoned by Belarusian authorities before he had the chance to stand for election, with his campaign team putting their support behind remaining pro-democracy candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. It was widely believed Ms Tsikhanouskaya, who was herself standing in place of her also-imprisoned husband, Siarheii Tsikhanouski, won the majority vote. However, she was forced to flee the country after dictator Alexander Lukashenko declared victory.

Ms Fraser said the stories were passed out of prison and sent to Jim Dingley, a translator who had worked for Scotland Street Press before.

She said: “In early February 2022, I was talking to a friend, a poet, and telling him why we could not publish a manuscript that had come to us direct from a jail in Belarus. Two of our directors had advised against the risk of publishing such politically dangerous stuff. The poet said ‘well, that is exactly why you must publish’.

"Two weeks later the entire world turned against the official Russian and Belarusian state apparatus, so we wouldn’t stick out in our implicit criticism.” However, she was worried about the safety of Mr Znak.

"It was safe to publish – for us, yes, but for the author would this just endanger his life further?” she said, adding she received the eventual backing of Mr Znak’s wife and sister.

She pointed to the work of dissident Soviet author Aleksandr Solzhenisyn, whose novel One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich has been linked to the decline of the Soviet Union.

“I believe literature is one of the most powerful tools in civilisation,” she said. “As soon as I read The Zekameron, I recognised its importance for our time."

When Mr Znak’s family managed to get a message to him in prison to tell him his book was to be published by Scotland Street Press, he sent back a short note scribbled on a piece of paper. It said: “I only ever heard of Scotland Yard before – and now I know of Scotland Street Press.”

The name of the book derives from the Russian abbreviation “zek”, which originally referred to a convict held in a Soviet labour camp. The launch of The Zekameron is to take place at the Scottish Storytelling Centre in Edinburgh on Wednesday.