Yuri Andrukhovych
Encyclopedia
Yuri Andrukhovych is a Ukrainian
Ukrainian language
Ukrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet....
prose writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, essayist, and translator. With Oleksandr Irvanets and Viktor Neborak, he co-founded the Bu-Ba-Bu
Bu-Ba-Bu
Bu-Ba-Bu is a literary performance group started by three Ukrainian writers Yuri Andrukhovych, Viktor Neborak, and Oleksandr Irvanets. The group was founded in April 1985 in L'viv. The group's three syllables stand for "burlesque, balagan, and buffonada" . The idea behind the groups formation...
poetic group in 1985 (the group's name stands for бурлеск, балаган, буфонада--'burlesque, side-show, buffoonery').
Personal life
Yuri Andrukhovych is the father of Sofia AndrukhovychSofia Andrukhovych
Sofia Andrukhovych is a Ukrainian writer and translator.- Biography :She is a daughter of Yuri Andrukhovych. She is married to a Ukrainian writer Andriy Bondar, and they have a daughter Varvara, born 10 March 2008.She is a co-editor of Chetver periodical...
, who following in her father's footsteps also became a writer.
Literary work
To date, Andrukhovych has published five novels, four poetry collections, a cycle of short stories, and two volumes of essays, as well as literary translations from EnglishEnglish language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, Polish
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
, and Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
. His essays regularly appear in Zerkalo nedeli
Zerkalo Nedeli
Zerkalo Nedeli , usually referred to in English as the Mirror Weekly, is one of Ukraine’s most influential analytical newspapers published weekly in Kiev, the nation's capital. It was founded in 1994, and as of 2006 its print circulation was 57,000. It offers political analysis, original...
(Mirror Weekly), an influential trilingual newspaper (published fully in Russian and Ukrainian with excerpts also published in an online English edition). Some of his writings (for example, The Moscoviad
The Moscoviad
The Moscoviad is an English translation of the short novel Московіада written by the Ukrainian author Yuri Andrukhovych. The Moscoviad was translated from the original Ukrainian into English by Vitaly Chernetsky. It may be regarded as a part of the trilogy which also includes Perverzion and...
and Perverzion
Perverzion
Perverzion is a novel written by Ukrainian author Yuri Andrukhovych. The novel is considered to be part of Ukrainian post-modernist literature. It was originally written in 1997 in Ukrainian but was translated into English by Michael M. Naydan and published in 2005. The book was published by...
) are carried out in a distinct postmodern
Postmodernism
Postmodernism is a philosophical movement evolved in reaction to modernism, the tendency in contemporary culture to accept only objective truth and to be inherently suspicious towards a global cultural narrative or meta-narrative. Postmodernist thought is an intentional departure from the...
style. A list of some of his major works includes:
- The Sky and Squares (Небо і площі, 1985), a book of poems
- On the Left, Where the Heart Is (Зліва, де серце, 1989), a cycle of short stories
- Downtown (Середмістя, 1989), a book of poems
- Exotic Birds and Plants (Екзотичні птахи і рослини, 1991), a book of poems
- Recreations (Рекреації, 1992), a novel
- The MoscoviadThe MoscoviadThe Moscoviad is an English translation of the short novel Московіада written by the Ukrainian author Yuri Andrukhovych. The Moscoviad was translated from the original Ukrainian into English by Vitaly Chernetsky. It may be regarded as a part of the trilogy which also includes Perverzion and...
, (Московіада, 1993), a novel - PerverzionPerverzionPerverzion is a novel written by Ukrainian author Yuri Andrukhovych. The novel is considered to be part of Ukrainian post-modernist literature. It was originally written in 1997 in Ukrainian but was translated into English by Michael M. Naydan and published in 2005. The book was published by...
(Перверзія, 1996), a novel - Disorientation on Location (Дезорієнтація на місцевості, 1999), a book of essays
- My Europe (Моя Європа, 2001), a book of essays co-authored with the Polish writer Andrzej StasiukAndrzej StasiukAndrzej Stasiuk is one of the most successful and internationally acclaimed contemporary Polish writers, journalists and literary critics...
- Twelve Rings (Дванадцять обручів, 2003), a novel
- Songs for the Dead Rooster (Пісні для мертвого півня, 2004), a book of poems
- The Day Lady Died (День смерті Пані День, 2006), an anthology of Ukrainian translations of American poetry from the 1950s and 1960s
- The Devil's Hiding in the Cheese (Диявол ховається в сирі, 2006), a book of essays
- The Secret. Instead of a Novel (Таємниця. Замість роману, 2007), a novel (made up of interviews)
For his literary writings and activity as a public intellectual, Andrukhovych has been awarded numerous national and international prizes, including the Herder Prize
Herder Prize
The Herder Prize, established in 1963 and named for Johann Gottfried von Herder, was a prestigious international prize dedicated to the promotion of scientific, art and literature relations, and presented to scholars and artists from Central and Southeastern Europe whose life and work have improved...
(2001), the Erich Maria Remarque
Erich Maria Remarque
Erich Maria Remarque was a German author, best known for his novel All Quiet on the Western Front.-Life and work:...
Peace Prize (2005), the Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
Book Fair Prize for European Understanding (2006), and the Angelus Prize (also 2006). He is a member of the editorial board of Ukrainian periodicals Krytyka and Potyah 76.
Political views
Andrukhovych writes in UkrainianUkrainian language
Ukrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet....
and is known for his pro-Ukrainian and pro-European views, however he is rarely considered a Ukrainian nationalist, a charge he fiercely denies himself. In his interviews, he said that he respected both the Ukrainian and Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
languages and claims that his opponents do not understand that the very survival of the Ukrainian language is threatened. During the 2004 presidential elections in Ukraine he signed, together with eleven other writers, an open letter in which he called Sovietic Russian culture: "language of pop music and criminal slang". He translates his essays himself from Ukrainian into Russian for the Zerkalo Nedeli
Zerkalo Nedeli
Zerkalo Nedeli , usually referred to in English as the Mirror Weekly, is one of Ukraine’s most influential analytical newspapers published weekly in Kiev, the nation's capital. It was founded in 1994, and as of 2006 its print circulation was 57,000. It offers political analysis, original...
which publishes every issue in both languages.
External links
- "Andrukhovych, but not fully", and article in Zerkalo NedeliZerkalo NedeliZerkalo Nedeli , usually referred to in English as the Mirror Weekly, is one of Ukraine’s most influential analytical newspapers published weekly in Kiev, the nation's capital. It was founded in 1994, and as of 2006 its print circulation was 57,000. It offers political analysis, original...
(Mirror Weekly), available online in Ukrainian and in Russian. - Biography from the international literature festival berlin
- Complete essays in Zerkalo nedeliZerkalo NedeliZerkalo Nedeli , usually referred to in English as the Mirror Weekly, is one of Ukraine’s most influential analytical newspapers published weekly in Kiev, the nation's capital. It was founded in 1994, and as of 2006 its print circulation was 57,000. It offers political analysis, original...
by Yuri Andrukhovych: in Ukrainian (since 2000) and in Russian (since 1995) - Selected poetry by Andrukhovych in Ukrainian: http://poetry.uazone.net/andrukhovych
- Biography page for Andrukhovych at the website of his German publisher, Suhrkamp: http://www.suhrkamp.de/autoren/rights_autor.cfm?id=97
- The information page on Andrukhovych at the website of the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies Press, which published the English translation of his first novel, Recreations: http://www.utoronto.ca/cius/publications/books/recreations.htm
- Page for Andrukhovych at Poetry International Web: http://ukraine.poetryinternationalweb.org/piw_cms/cms/cms_module/index.php?obj_id=5528
- Andrukhovych's acceptance speech for the Leipzig Book Prize for European Understanding: http://www.signandsight.com/features/670.html
- Non official site: http://andruhovych.info
- Audio recordings of Andrukhovych reading his poems, translations in several languages available http://www.lyrikline.org/index.php?id=162&L=1&author=ja00&show=Poems&cHash=b0a8f7d947
- An Open Letter from Twelve Apolitical Writers about Choice and the Elections: http://www.ukrainianstudies.org/aaus-list/0410/msg00023.html
- Author's reading of selected poetry and prose extracts, and interview in Ukrainian and English at the Kennan Institute, USA, 2009: http://www.wilsoncenter.org/ondemand/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.play&mediaid=7DA4261A-012E-D3D7-6810E57D50B40DB3