Catch of the Day Ep. 15: »The Cicada Sheds Its Shiny Golden Skin« by Valeria Gordeev read by Imogen Taylor

In this episode, translator Imogen Taylor reads an English sample of Valeria Gordeev’s »The Cicada Sheds Its Shiny Golden Skin«.

Konstantin and Lada are siblings, divided by an unbridgeable silence. While Konstantin works in Moscow for a research institute responsible for preserving Lenin's body, Lada lives in Berlin as an artist. They have had no contact since the outbreak of the war. Lada cannot understand why Konstantin stayed in Moscow, and Konstantin has a task that is causing him headaches: his godfather has ordered him to steal rare biological specimens from the institute he works for.

Valeria Gordeev masterfully weaves the intimate story of a family between Berlin, Kyiv and Moscow into the grand, turbulent upheavals of our present day.

Praise for »The Cicada Sheds Its Shiny Golden Skin«:

"A truly great work" – ZEIT Podcast "Was liest du gerade?", Adam Soboczynski

"I have rarely read it done so brilliantly, how immediate political experiences are recast. That is truly great literature." – ZEIT Podcast "Was liest du gerade?", Iris Radisch

Valeria Gordeev was born in Tübingen in 1986. She works as an author and illustrator. She has received numerous awards for her writing. In 2023, she won the Ingeborg Bachmann Prize at the 47th German Literature Days in Klagenfurt. The Cicada Sheds Its Shiny Golden Skin is her debut novel which was awarded the 2026 Literary Prize of the Jürgen Ponto Foundation and was longlisted for the 2026 German Book Award.

Head to our website to find a pdf of today’s sample here.

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Credits

Text originally published as “Die Zikade entschlüpft ihrer goldglänzenden Hülle” by Valeria Gordeev

Translated and read by Imogen Taylor

Copyright © S. Fischer Verlag GmbH, Frankfurt am Main 2026

Photo of the author © Alena Schmick

Concept: Verena von Bassewitz, Martin Butz & Elisa Diallo

Production, Editing & Sound Design: Martin Butz

⁠Impressum

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