The Russian world endlessly emphasises its civilising mission across the Urals. As a counterpoint, the scholars often highlight the destruction of an entire civilisation of northern Eurasia, of an original cultural heritage, from the conquest of Siberia in the 16th century to the present day. Beyond the image of Siberia reduced to a desert of ice or a vast deposit of raw materials in the open air, this article gives a rapid account of a moment of self-expression, literature, especially through a few portraits of Sibiriak writers of the 19th century or indigenous writers of the 21st century.