Dmitry Bykov

Genres

Художественная литература, Биография, Поэзия

Биография

Born in Moscow in 1967, Dmitry Bykov is one of Russia's most prominent and admired writers and public intellectuals. He studied at Moscow State University’s Faculty of Journalism, and journalism is something he remains engaged with: he writes for the magazine 'Ogonek’ and regularly produces articles, essays and reviews for the mass media. Bykov’s literary output is voluminous. He has published five novels, a biography of Pasternak (for which he won the 2007 Big Book Prize), two collections of short stories, two volumes of essays and eight collections of poetry. He also has senior editorial positions in various publications, hosts a weekly radio show and appears regularly on Russian TV. His biography of Pasternak was a critical and commercial hit, enjoying three print runs. Commenting on this success, Bykov has remarked that ‘Boris Leonidovich has completely renovated my dacha’.

 

In 2009 Bykov was named assistant editor-in-chief of the weekly magazine Profile; he is also the editor-in-chief of the monthly literature magazine What to Read (Что читать). Bykov’s controversial novel ZhD (ЖД) was published in March this year in English translation with the title Living Souls, drawing on the playful reminiscence of  Gogol’s ‘Dead Souls’ in Bykov's title. The novel is an epic engagement with Russian culture and history which mingles the the traditions of the great Russian novel with science fiction and counter-factual history to shine a penetrating light on contemporary Russia; one critic has described it as "a futuristic anti-utopia about imminent ethnic conflicts, the inevitable crisis of democracy and liberalism as we know it today". 

 

Notable amongst Bykov's recent novels is The List (Списанные), the first instalment of a grotesque fantasy trilogy, chronicling the mores and morals of Russia in the Noughties, through the adventures of Sviridov, a script-writer finds himself on a secret list of 180 other Muscovites. The List is saturated with the realia of contemporary Russia and shot through with both humour and an acute historical consciousness: the result is a gripping novel that is part-thriller, part-fable, and part-satire.

 

Bykov's latest novel is Ostromov, or The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (Остромов, или ученик чародея),  a coruscating mash-up of history, magic realism and picaresque, which chronicles the intrigues surrounding the trial of Russia’s last Freemasons in 1920s Leningrad, and is set to delight the reader with a fresh, skewed vision of the early days of the Soviet Union.

 

Provocative, flamboyant and with his fingers in dozens of pies, Dmitry Bykov revels in controversy. Though his literary versatility and verbal virtuosity, as well as his frankness, mark him out among contemporary Russian writers, he remains unjustly unknown, and un-translated, in the West.

Премии и награды

2009

The Bronze Snail Prize (List / Списанные)

2008The Portal Prize (short story Holiday / Отпуск)
2007Strugatskys' International Literary Prize (Living Souls / ЖД)
2006The Big Book Prize (Boris Pasternak / Борис Пастернак)
2006National Bestseller Prize (Boris Pasternak / Борис Пастернак)
2006Strugatskys' International Literary Prize (Evacuator / Эвакуатор)
2004Strugatskys' International Literary Prize (Orthography / Орфография)

Другие издания

Русский язык

Английский язык

Контакты