Anya Gillinson’s Dreaming in Russian: A Night of Reflection and Celebration in New York

In a setting as elegant as the story it honored, Elizabeth Segerstrom welcomed guests into her orchid-filled New York residence to celebrate the launch of Dreaming in Russian, Anya Gillinson’s fiercely honest and deeply personal memoir. With her husband, Sir Clive Gillinson, Executive and Artistic Director of Carnegie Hall, by her side—and much of haute New York in attendance—Anya engaged in a moving conversation with renowned writer Andrew Solomon. Together, they explored her journey from the shadow of the Soviet regime to a new life in America, touching on themes of survival, reinvention, and love.

William Fleischer, Grimanesa Amoros, Shammiel Fleischer-Amoros

Gillinson’s memoir recounts the contradictions of Soviet life, the brutal murder of her father, her family’s emigration to New York, and, ultimately, the happiness she found in her marriage. It is a book as much about personal history as it is about cultural identity, feminism, and the complexities of being Russian in a changing world.

Distinguished guests, including Prosper Assouline, Candace Bushnell, Kip Forbes, Marifé Hernández and Joel Bell, Denise Rich, Barbara Tober, and Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia, joined the author’s mother, celebrated concert pianist Galina Novikova, in toasting her achievement.

Anya Gillinson

Reflecting on her father’s legacy, Gillinson shared:

“My father lived in the Soviet Union, a country of hypocrisy and lies. But he wasn’t secretive. He was open and honest—about being Jewish, at a time when people were hiding it. He lived as we do here in the West, and it was his dream to come to America. That dream never became reality. My father, shielding my mother, was killed at 47. I was 13. Our life as we knew it was over. I always wanted to tell his story and write this book. But this book is more than just that. It’s about my social observations on immigrating to America, which looked very different than what we see on TV now. It’s about my mother. It’s about feminism versus femininity. It’s about being Russian.”

Andrew Solomon praised Gillinson’s ability to translate profound personal experiences into universal truths, remarking:

Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia, Christopher Forbes, Candace Bushnell, Elizabeth Segerstrom

“This book captures the passion with which it was written—the vision and the ability to draw philosophical extrudes out of personal experience.”

Galina Novikova, Marife Hernandez, Anya Gillinson, Joel Bell

Published by Skyhorse, Dreaming in Russian is now available in bookstores and online. For more information, visit Anya Gillinson’s website.

PHOTOS BY BFA Yvonne Tnt