Join The Museum of Russian Art for an evening with author and historian Maxim Matusevich in conversation with award-winning writer Angela Ajayi about his debut fiction collection, Six Trains of No Return.

Bringing together twelve short stories and novellas, Six Trains of No Return explores immigrant experiences and dislocation through stories that are both deeply personal and universal. The collection considers past lives and loves, memories both fragile and unreliable, and the ways our personal stories are shaped by larger historical forces beyond our control.

The collection also evokes the Soviet Jewish experience during the waning days of the USSR. Emotionally resonant and edged with quiet humor, its stories explore displacement, belonging, memory, and human connection across cultures and backgrounds.

Thursday, December 3
7:00 – 8:30 PM
Doors open at 6:00 PM. All galleries and TMORA Shop will be open prior to the event.

TICKETS: $10 General Admission | $5 TMORA Members

Six Trains of No Return is available now in TMORA Shop. Purchase your copy in advance and select event pickup to have it waiting for you on December 3. Your purchase directly supports The Museum of Russian Art and its programs.

Maxim Matusevich

Maxim Matusevich is an author, historian, and Chair of the History Department at Seton Hall University. Originally from St. Petersburg, Russia, he immigrated to the United States in 1991, just before the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

As a scholar, Matusevich has published extensively on international relations, Cold War history, and African-Soviet encounters. His research has been supported by the Fulbright Program, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, NYU’s Jordan Center for the Advanced Study of Russia, and Harvard University’s W. E. B. Du Bois Research Institute. His short stories and essays have appeared in literary journals including The Kenyon Review and New England Review. Six Trains of No Return (Academic Studies Press, 2026) is his debut fiction collection.

Angela Ajayi

Angela Ajayi is a Nigerian-Ukrainian writer living in Minneapolis. Her essays and book reviews have appeared in the Los Angeles Review of Books, Literary Hub, The Common Online, and the Minnesota Star Tribune, where she was a contributing book critic. Her first short story, “Galina,” published in Fifth Wednesday Journal, won the PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers. Her story “Our Beautiful Ukrainian Mothers” was published in Pleiades and nominated for a Pushcart Prize.