Jane Cassiopeia Darcy asked Katherine Arden:

Hi Katherine! Can I ask, why is the inspiration for The Bear and the Nightingale - Russia? How did you end up inspired by it?

Katherine Arden I had always wanted to write a book based on a fairy tale, and since I was Russian major in college and had lived in Moscow, doing a book based on a Russian fairy tale seemed like a natural choice. I wrote the first chapter (the fairy tale retelling) first, and for the rest I just sort of riffed over the course of many many drafts. So many drafts, ha.

Living in Russia inspired me, I'd say. So did my love of fairy tales, my love of nature, and of horses. I have a younger brother, as well as several very dear male friends whom I consider my brothers, and those relationships helped inform Vasya's family dynamic. Reading Pushkin helped too :)

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