Evgeniy Vodolazkin
Biography
Previously unknown to readers of fiction, Vodolazkin was catapulted to prominence by his debut novel Solovyov and Larionov, which was not only very popular with readers, but was also rewarded with a place on the shortlist for both the Andrei Bely Prize (2009) and the Big Book Award (2010).
Prior to this, Vodolazkin was best known within his academic field of Old Russian literature - a subject on which he is an internationally recognised expert, with degrees from Kiev (the city of his birth), St. Petersburg and Munich universities, and numerous publications to his name. Although he shuns the label 'professorial' for his fiction, Vodolazkin's novel plays with the tools of literary criticism: Solovyov and Larionov are, respectively, a historian and the former White Army General making a life in the Soviet Union (much like Vodolazkin's great-grandfather, to whom the book is dedicated), whose diaries Solovyov researches and analyzes.
Vodolazkin, who is now a regular contributor to newspapers and magazines, is currently working on a novel drawing on his knowledge of Old Russia, which, he promises, will shun the cliches of historical fiction in favour of capturing the spirit and power of the ancient texts that he knows so well.
Books
Соловьев и Ларионов / Solovyov and Larionov (2009)
Всемирная история в литературе Древней Руси / The World History in the Old Russian Literature (2008)
Prizes and awards
2010 - Shortlisted for the Big Book Prize
2009 - Shortlisted for Andrei Bely Prize