Mikhail Pavlovich Shishkin

Mikhail Pavlovich Shishkin
Photo from the 2006 Big Book Prize.
Born	January 18, 1961 (1961-01-18) (age 50) Moscow, Russia
Genres	Fiction, non-fiction

Mikhail Pavlovich Shishkin (Russian: Михаил Павлович Шишкин, born 18 January 1961) is a Russian writer. He is widely considered as one of the best contemporary Russian writers and praised for depth and complexity of his books and for his perfect command of Russian literary language.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

Biography

Mikhail Shishkin was born in 1961 in Moscow.

Shishkin studied English and German at Moscow State Pedagogical Institute. After graduation he worked as a street sweeper, road worker, journalist, school teacher, and translator. He debuted as a writer in 1993, when his short story "Calligraphy Lesson" was published in Znamya magazine. Since 1995 he has lived in Zurich, Switzerland.^[6][7] He averages one book every five years.^[8]

Shishkin's books have been translated into more than ten languages.^[9] His prose is universally praised for style, e.g., "Shishkin's language is wonderfully lucid and concise. Without sounding archaic, it reaches over the heads of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky (whose relationship with the Russian language was often uneasy) to the tradition of Pushkin." He deals with universal themes like death, resurrection, and love.^[10]

Bibliography

Fiction

• "Calligraphy Lesson", short story (1993)
• One Night Befalls Us All / Всех ожидает одна ночь, novel (1993)
• Blind Musician / Слепой музыкант, novella (1994)
• The Taking of Izmail / Взятие Измаила, novel (1999) - Russian Booker Prize - 2000
• Saved language, short story (2001)
• Maiden Hair / Венерин Волос, novel (2005) - Big Book Prize - 2006, National Best-Seller Prize - 2006
• Pismovnik / Письмовник, novel (2010)

Non-Fiction

• Russian Switzerland / Русская Швейцария literary and historical guidebook (2000)
• Montreux-Missolunghi-Astapovo, in the Steps of Byron and Tolstoy / Montreux-Missolunghi-Astapowo, Auf den Spuren von Byron und Tolstoj (2002), an essay collection, in German (2002) - Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger - 2005

References

1. ^ Nezavisimaya Gazeta, January 2000
2. ^ Vedomosti, December 2000
3. ^ Polit.Ru, June 2005
4. ^ Expert, August 2008
5. ^ Mikhail Shishkin. Academia Rossica
6. ^ Big Book Prize web-site
7. ^ OZON online book store
8. ^ Mikhail Shishkin: There Is No Need to Write about Russia and Exotic Russian Problems
9. ^ OKNO. Literary Agency. "Maiden’S Hair (VENERIN VOLOS)". OKNO. Literary Agency. http://okno-agency.com/Russian%20Catalogue/Russian%20Fiction.pdf. Retrieved 2011-01-10. 
10. ^ Times Literary Supplement, 8.10.2010. By V. Sonkin

Persondata
Name	Shishkin, Mikhail
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	18 January 1961
Place of birth	Moscow, Russia
Date of death
Place of death