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Meeting narrative visionaries from across the world: Dmitry Glukhovsky at StoryDrive

Dmitry Glukhovsky is a Russian author and journalist known for Sci-Fi, Magic-Realism, and his exploration of social and political structures. He began writing his first novel, Metro 2033, at the age of 18, and then published it on his website in 2002, available for all to read for free. We spoke to Dmitry about his current projects – including both novels and videogames. Dmitry will be a speaker at StoryDrive on 11 October.

What do you expect from the "StoryDrive" conference?

Meeting narrative visionaries from across the world and tying new creative bonds, first of all. Russia is 1/6th of the Earth's surface, and yet it's tiny. Truly interesting creative trends are now happening elsewhere.

What projects have you been working on lately?

I have just published my novel 'FUTURE' , a utopia/dystopia that speaks of humanity where everyone is immortal and the Earth is overpopulated. This novel first premiered on social networks as a free-to-read text and multimedia (it has its own original soundtrack) – and only after that it became a paper book. Translations into major European languages are underway.

Another narrative I recently released is the METRO: LAST LIGHT video game. A continuation of the story I told in the METRO 2033 novel on the post-apocalyptic Moscow, and the eponymous video game. Further plans include television shows, video games and Nobel Prize-winning novels.

Your bestseller Metro 2033 has become a major success, not least by the help of thousands of fans. Thinking about the democratisation of media, how much external influence is tolerable for the author's creative processes in your view?

The Metro saga is being told across different media – parts of the plots can be found in books I wrote, others in the games based off my novels, yet others – in the books written by other authors for the 'Universe of METRO 2033' international book franchise, in which we already have close to 40 novels published. Authors from Russia, UK, Italy, Cuba, and soon Poland, Germany and China write their own intertwining stories set in the same coherent universe that I founded in METRO 2033. At least half of these authors are actually fans that won our interactive contests for the best stories and have become published authors – both in Russia and abroad.

So, I am actively using multi- and trans-media, crowdsourcing and social networking, as well as fan-fiction to tell the stories I want to tell.

Having online support of your fans is great as long as you're repeating yourself: fans usually want more of the same, they're conservative and do not like it when the author is experimenting. If you want to try something new, switch the comments off.

Please complete the following sentence: "In five years, books will be…."

…electronic, equipped with soundtracks, written by authors together with fans, published on social networks, read from cell phones, bought with a click. The paper book will die, but the literature will just change the skin and reincarnate in a new body. Paper rots, yet books are immortal.

Dmitry Glukhovsky is a Russian author and journalist known for Sci-Fi, Magic-Realism, and his exploration of social and political structures. He began writing his first novel, Metro 2033, at the age of 18, and then published it on his website in 2002, available for all to read for free. The novel has become an interactive experiment, drawing in over 3 million readers world-wide and was also released as computer game. In 2007 It's Getting Darker was published, followed by Metro 2034 in 2009, Russia's best-seller that year, also available free on-line, both as text and as a collaborative art-project with Russian electronic performer Dolphin and visual-artist Anton Gretchko. This was followed in 2010 by a series of satirical stories about Russia today – Stories about Motherland. As a journalist, Dmitry Glukhovsky has worked for EuroNews TV in France, Deutsche Welle and Russia Today. He has lived in Israel, Germany and France. And speaks English, French and Hebrew fluently, reads German and some Spanish, as well as his native Russian.

Meet Dmitry Glukhovsky at StoryDrive Frankfurt on 11 October. Dmitry will be part of the session Intertwined: The Story of the user, and the user's role in the story. He will be talking about the democratisation that has finally taken hold in the media industry – with everyone playing a role.