Maria Stepanova is one of the most visible figures in post-Soviet culture. She is the founder of the Colta, the only independent crowd-funded source of information that exists in Russia today, with 900,000 unique visitors per month.
The poet, essayist, and journalist is the author of nine poetry collections and a recipient of several Russian and international literary awards (including the prestigious Andrey Bely Prize and Joseph Brodsky Fellowship). 
In "Time Backward: Putin's Russia in Search of Identity" she will discuss Russia's current obsession with the past, at all levels of society, and its most direct implications – what she calls "hybrid archaism as a new model of statehood."