Joanna Lillis
@joannalillis.bsky.social
Almaty-based journalist reporting on Central Asia, author of Dark Shadows: Inside the Secret World of Kazakhstan (2019) and Silk Mirage: Through the Looking Glass in Uzbekistan (out in November 2025)
Pinned
Joanna Lillis
@joannalillis.bsky.social
· Mar 18
Coming soon: my new book! Silk Mirage: Through the Looking Glass in #Uzbekistan delves into the politics, economics, history and culture, through my 24 years of experience living in/reporting from/travelling there. Pre-order from Bloomsbury, Amazon or bookshops www.bloomsbury.com/uk/silk-mira...
Reposted by Joanna Lillis
The next TCA podcast episode drops Sunday, November 30 featuring Edward Lemon and Bradley Jardine on Chinese influence in Central Asia and their new book From Belt and Road to Backlash https://ow.ly/njiz50XyiCe #CentralAsia #China #GeopoliticsPodcast #TCApodcast #EdwardLemon #BradleyJardine
Pannier and Hillard's Spotlight on Central Asia: New Episode Available Now - The Times Of Central Asia
As Managing Editor of The Times of Central Asia, I’m delighted that, in partnership with the Oxus Society for Central Asian Affairs, from October 19, we are
ow.ly
November 26, 2025 at 7:01 PM
The next TCA podcast episode drops Sunday, November 30 featuring Edward Lemon and Bradley Jardine on Chinese influence in Central Asia and their new book From Belt and Road to Backlash https://ow.ly/njiz50XyiCe #CentralAsia #China #GeopoliticsPodcast #TCApodcast #EdwardLemon #BradleyJardine
Reposted by Joanna Lillis
Just arrived this morning. @joannalillis.bsky.social's new book. Her Kazakhstan book from a few years back was excellent, so looking forward to this one.
November 26, 2025 at 6:52 PM
Just arrived this morning. @joannalillis.bsky.social's new book. Her Kazakhstan book from a few years back was excellent, so looking forward to this one.
Reposted by Joanna Lillis
📣 Reminder! Tomorrow evening, @joannalillis.bsky.social will talk about #SilkMirage at @uclssees.bsky.social.
Tickets are free, but please reserve a spot 👇
🎟️️ bit.ly/4nAicy7
#Uzbekistan
Tickets are free, but please reserve a spot 👇
🎟️️ bit.ly/4nAicy7
#Uzbekistan
November 26, 2025 at 11:04 AM
📣 Reminder! Tomorrow evening, @joannalillis.bsky.social will talk about #SilkMirage at @uclssees.bsky.social.
Tickets are free, but please reserve a spot 👇
🎟️️ bit.ly/4nAicy7
#Uzbekistan
Tickets are free, but please reserve a spot 👇
🎟️️ bit.ly/4nAicy7
#Uzbekistan
Reposted by Joanna Lillis
In Bishkek, the embassy of Ukraine is right next to the new presidential palace (Palace of Unity) built under Japarov. During Putin’s official visit to the palace yesterday, the Kyrgyz authorities covered up the view of the Ukrainian embassy with a giant screen displaying KG and RU flags
November 26, 2025 at 8:30 AM
In Bishkek, the embassy of Ukraine is right next to the new presidential palace (Palace of Unity) built under Japarov. During Putin’s official visit to the palace yesterday, the Kyrgyz authorities covered up the view of the Ukrainian embassy with a giant screen displaying KG and RU flags
Please join me tomorrow at @uclssees.bsky.social with @dianakudaibergen.bsky.social at my last event in the UK on the Silk Mirage tour! The event is open to all, so please come along if you are in London.
November 26, 2025 at 12:06 PM
Please join me tomorrow at @uclssees.bsky.social with @dianakudaibergen.bsky.social at my last event in the UK on the Silk Mirage tour! The event is open to all, so please come along if you are in London.
Silk Mirage in illustrious surroundings at Oxford University's New College, where I presented it last night.
November 26, 2025 at 12:02 PM
Silk Mirage in illustrious surroundings at Oxford University's New College, where I presented it last night.
A pleasure to present Silk Mirage at New College Oxford last night.
November 26, 2025 at 11:56 AM
A pleasure to present Silk Mirage at New College Oxford last night.
Join us later! Open to all.
November 25, 2025 at 11:00 AM
Join us later! Open to all.
Reposted by Joanna Lillis
We are hosting Joanna Lillis at @uclssees.bsky.social this Thursday! Come to Masaryk Room at 5 pm on 27th Nov.
Address: 16 Taviton Street, Bloomsbury, London, report to reception and go to the 4th floor.
Address: 16 Taviton Street, Bloomsbury, London, report to reception and go to the 4th floor.
Please join me for Silk Mirage launch events at Oxford University, University College London and online, with @uclssees.bsky.social @dianakudaibergen.bsky.social + others
November 24, 2025 at 3:23 PM
We are hosting Joanna Lillis at @uclssees.bsky.social this Thursday! Come to Masaryk Room at 5 pm on 27th Nov.
Address: 16 Taviton Street, Bloomsbury, London, report to reception and go to the 4th floor.
Address: 16 Taviton Street, Bloomsbury, London, report to reception and go to the 4th floor.
Reposted by Joanna Lillis
📣 Attention #Oxford: Join @joannalillis.bsky.social tomorrow for a book talk on #SilkMirage moderated by Alexander Morrison and hear all about #Uzbekistan
November 24, 2025 at 4:13 PM
📣 Attention #Oxford: Join @joannalillis.bsky.social tomorrow for a book talk on #SilkMirage moderated by Alexander Morrison and hear all about #Uzbekistan
The Uzbek Spring is the story that takes centre stage in my newly-published book: Silk Mirage, based on my 24 years of variously living in, travelling around and reporting from the country. Read all about it in my piece for the Royal Society for Asian Affairs.
rsaa.org.uk/blog/unpicki...
rsaa.org.uk/blog/unpicki...
Unpicking Uzbekistan - The Royal Society for Asian Affairs
Joanna Lillis is a Kazakhstan-based journalist and the author of Silk Mirage: Through the Looking Glass in Uzbekistan and Dark Shadows: Inside the Secret World of Kazakhstan One overcast morning in la...
rsaa.org.uk
November 24, 2025 at 12:19 PM
The Uzbek Spring is the story that takes centre stage in my newly-published book: Silk Mirage, based on my 24 years of variously living in, travelling around and reporting from the country. Read all about it in my piece for the Royal Society for Asian Affairs.
rsaa.org.uk/blog/unpicki...
rsaa.org.uk/blog/unpicki...
The Uzbek Spring is the story that takes centre stage in my newly-published book Silk Mirage, based on my 24 years of variously living in, travelling around and reporting from the country. Read all about it in my piece for the Royal Society for Asian Affairs.
rsaa.org.uk/blog/unpicki...
rsaa.org.uk/blog/unpicki...
Unpicking Uzbekistan - The Royal Society for Asian Affairs
Joanna Lillis is a Kazakhstan-based journalist and the author of Silk Mirage: Through the Looking Glass in Uzbekistan and Dark Shadows: Inside the Secret World of Kazakhstan One overcast morning in la...
rsaa.org.uk
November 24, 2025 at 12:17 PM
The Uzbek Spring is the story that takes centre stage in my newly-published book Silk Mirage, based on my 24 years of variously living in, travelling around and reporting from the country. Read all about it in my piece for the Royal Society for Asian Affairs.
rsaa.org.uk/blog/unpicki...
rsaa.org.uk/blog/unpicki...
Please join me for Silk Mirage launch events at Oxford University, University College London and online, with @uclssees.bsky.social @dianakudaibergen.bsky.social + others
November 24, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Please join me for Silk Mirage launch events at Oxford University, University College London and online, with @uclssees.bsky.social @dianakudaibergen.bsky.social + others
Reposted by Joanna Lillis
Congrats to @joannalillis.bsky.social on the London launch of Silk Mirage: Through the Looking Glass in Uzbekistan
November 20, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Congrats to @joannalillis.bsky.social on the London launch of Silk Mirage: Through the Looking Glass in Uzbekistan
Reposted by Joanna Lillis
@forbes.com highlighted @joannalillis.bsky.social’s “Silk Mirage,” detailing the untold story of Uzbekistan.
Learn more: https://bit.ly/3LPQmR4
📚💙 #Politics @bloomsburypol.bsky.social
Learn more: https://bit.ly/3LPQmR4
📚💙 #Politics @bloomsburypol.bsky.social
Joanna Lillis On Seeing Uzbekistan Through The Looking Glass
As Kazakhstan-based journalist Joanna Lillis—who reports for outlets including The Economist—publishes her new book, Silk Mirage: Through the Looking Glass in Uzbekistan
bit.ly
November 20, 2025 at 7:00 PM
@forbes.com highlighted @joannalillis.bsky.social’s “Silk Mirage,” detailing the untold story of Uzbekistan.
Learn more: https://bit.ly/3LPQmR4
📚💙 #Politics @bloomsburypol.bsky.social
Learn more: https://bit.ly/3LPQmR4
📚💙 #Politics @bloomsburypol.bsky.social
Reposted by Joanna Lillis
🔊 Book talk!
Journalist @joannalillis.bsky.social will present 'Silk Mirage', her new book on #Uzbekistan, a country at the centre of a power struggle between reformers and reactionaries for the soul of this strategic land in Central Asia.
🗓️ 27 November at 5pm
➡️ www.ucl.ac.uk/arts-humanit...
Journalist @joannalillis.bsky.social will present 'Silk Mirage', her new book on #Uzbekistan, a country at the centre of a power struggle between reformers and reactionaries for the soul of this strategic land in Central Asia.
🗓️ 27 November at 5pm
➡️ www.ucl.ac.uk/arts-humanit...
November 21, 2025 at 11:43 AM
🔊 Book talk!
Journalist @joannalillis.bsky.social will present 'Silk Mirage', her new book on #Uzbekistan, a country at the centre of a power struggle between reformers and reactionaries for the soul of this strategic land in Central Asia.
🗓️ 27 November at 5pm
➡️ www.ucl.ac.uk/arts-humanit...
Journalist @joannalillis.bsky.social will present 'Silk Mirage', her new book on #Uzbekistan, a country at the centre of a power struggle between reformers and reactionaries for the soul of this strategic land in Central Asia.
🗓️ 27 November at 5pm
➡️ www.ucl.ac.uk/arts-humanit...
Unpicking #Uzbekistan: my piece for the @RSAsianAffairs on my new book Silk Mirage, just out with @BloomsburyPol @BloomsburyAcad rsaa.org.uk/blog/unpicki...
Unpicking Uzbekistan - The Royal Society for Asian Affairs
Joanna Lillis is a Kazakhstan-based journalist and the author of Silk Mirage: Through the Looking Glass in Uzbekistan and Dark Shadows: Inside the Secret World of Kazakhstan One overcast morning in la...
rsaa.org.uk
November 21, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Unpicking #Uzbekistan: my piece for the @RSAsianAffairs on my new book Silk Mirage, just out with @BloomsburyPol @BloomsburyAcad rsaa.org.uk/blog/unpicki...
A pleasure to launch Silk Mirage at the brilliant @johnsandoebooks last night
November 21, 2025 at 2:59 PM
A pleasure to launch Silk Mirage at the brilliant @johnsandoebooks last night
Gearing up for the launch party for Silk Mirage - just out with @bloomsburypol.bsky.social!
November 20, 2025 at 11:40 AM
Gearing up for the launch party for Silk Mirage - just out with @bloomsburypol.bsky.social!
A pleasure to talk about Silk Mirage just out with @bloomsburypol.bsky.social - to Ibrat Safo at last night's lively event hosted by @pushkinhouselondon @greatbritainrussiasociety
November 19, 2025 at 12:37 PM
A pleasure to talk about Silk Mirage just out with @bloomsburypol.bsky.social - to Ibrat Safo at last night's lively event hosted by @pushkinhouselondon @greatbritainrussiasociety
Reposted by Joanna Lillis
I rewarded myself to a Xmas treat. Who else is interested in Central Asia (those countries squeezed in between Ruzzia and China?
I was intrigued by her first book ion Kazakhstan. So this this one is a must. Thanx @joannalillis.bsky.social
Price in Germany 25,-Euro
I was intrigued by her first book ion Kazakhstan. So this this one is a must. Thanx @joannalillis.bsky.social
Price in Germany 25,-Euro
November 17, 2025 at 6:44 PM
I rewarded myself to a Xmas treat. Who else is interested in Central Asia (those countries squeezed in between Ruzzia and China?
I was intrigued by her first book ion Kazakhstan. So this this one is a must. Thanx @joannalillis.bsky.social
Price in Germany 25,-Euro
I was intrigued by her first book ion Kazakhstan. So this this one is a must. Thanx @joannalillis.bsky.social
Price in Germany 25,-Euro
Reposted by Joanna Lillis
"An unflinching yet humane portrait of a nation still wrestling with its ghosts."
#SilkMirage by @joannalillis.bsky.social is out now!
👉📘 bit.ly/49sAAFA
#SilkMirage by @joannalillis.bsky.social is out now!
👉📘 bit.ly/49sAAFA
Today in the ARB: Joshua Bird reviews “Silk Mirage: Through the Looking Glass in Uzbekistan” by Joanna Lillis @bloomsburybooksuk.bsky.social @bloomsburyacad.bsky.social asianreviewofbooks.com/silk-mirage-...
November 18, 2025 at 4:56 PM
"An unflinching yet humane portrait of a nation still wrestling with its ghosts."
#SilkMirage by @joannalillis.bsky.social is out now!
👉📘 bit.ly/49sAAFA
#SilkMirage by @joannalillis.bsky.social is out now!
👉📘 bit.ly/49sAAFA
Reposted by Joanna Lillis
Thoroughly enjoyed the talk between Joanna Lillis and Ibrat Safo in London last night, and look forward to reading Lillis' Silk Mirage. Tashkent has changed a lot since my first visit in 1996.
Tashkent's modernist buildings are being preserved for posterity but Samarkand + Bukhara, jewels in the crown of Uzbekistan's tourist trail, are scarred by destruction of their architectural heritage - read all about it on Substack + in my book Silk Mirage open.substack.com/pub/joannali...
The March of Modernism
Tashkent's once threatened modernist architectural heritage is being preserved for posterity – but elsewhere in Uzbekistan, controversial demolitions are the price of progress.
open.substack.com
November 19, 2025 at 8:21 AM
Thoroughly enjoyed the talk between Joanna Lillis and Ibrat Safo in London last night, and look forward to reading Lillis' Silk Mirage. Tashkent has changed a lot since my first visit in 1996.
Reposted by Joanna Lillis
I think it is incontrovertible now that everything in Bishkek that pre-dates independence is slated for demolition and then redevelopment
they’ve now drained and flattened the quite pleasant water-features next to the tsum shopping centre in Central Bishkek
they’ve now drained and flattened the quite pleasant water-features next to the tsum shopping centre in Central Bishkek
November 19, 2025 at 10:41 AM
I think it is incontrovertible now that everything in Bishkek that pre-dates independence is slated for demolition and then redevelopment
they’ve now drained and flattened the quite pleasant water-features next to the tsum shopping centre in Central Bishkek
they’ve now drained and flattened the quite pleasant water-features next to the tsum shopping centre in Central Bishkek
Reposted by Joanna Lillis
Bakr, one of Kyrgyzstan’s most popular rappers, was just banned entry to Russia where he was about to go on tour. He’s a huge star in Kyrgyzstan and beloved by the Kyrgyz diaspora in Russia. No explanation was provided, but his tour is postponed. Most of his tracks are in Kyrgyz, not very political
November 19, 2025 at 6:38 AM
Bakr, one of Kyrgyzstan’s most popular rappers, was just banned entry to Russia where he was about to go on tour. He’s a huge star in Kyrgyzstan and beloved by the Kyrgyz diaspora in Russia. No explanation was provided, but his tour is postponed. Most of his tracks are in Kyrgyz, not very political