Masha Gessen, a Russian and American journalist, author, translator and activist, the winner of the 2017 USA National Book Award in Nonfiction and a contributor to The New Yorker, who also writes for The New York Times, The Washington Post, Vanity Fair, Harper’s Magazine, and U.S. News and World Report, introduced her new award-winning book THE FUTURE IS HISTORY: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia, followed by a book signing. As Russia's leading LGBT rights activist, Ms. Gessen was part of art and literary event benefiting RUSA LGBT's asylum seekers. A silent auction of selected artworks from the Alexandre Gertsman Contemporary Art Gallery as well as art and services provided by asylum seekers accompanied the benefit.