Mikhail Shishkin
Genres
Contemporary Fiction
Biography
The author of widely acclaimed novels, Shishkin is admired as a refined stylist whose fiction engages Russian and European literary traditions and forges an equally expansive vision for the future of literature.
Born January 18, 1961 in Moscow, Shishkin worked as a school teacher and journalist. His writing debut in 1993, the short story Calligraphy Lesson, was named Best Debut of the Year by the literary journal Znamya. In 1995 he moved to Switzerland, where he worked as a Russian and German translator within the Immigration Department and specifically with Asylum Seekers. His impressions of the country inspired him to write Russian Switzerland, a nonfiction literary-historical guide, and Montreux-Missolunghi-Astapowo: Tracing Byron and Tolstoy, a literary walk from Lake Geneva to the Bern Alps.
In recent years he has been living both in Moscow and Zurich.
Mikhail Shishkin has written four novels. His first novel, Larionov’s Reminiscences was published in 1994. The two novels which followed earned him the three most prestigious Russian literary awards: The Taking of Izmail (2000) won the Russian Booker Prize and Venus Hair (Maiden’s Hair)(2005) was awarded both the National Bestseller Prize and the Big Book prize.
Shishkin’s novel Letter-Book (Pismovnik) (2010) has been greeted with delight by readers and reviewers alike, was acclaimed as the Literary Event of the Year, and came top in the 2010 Imhonet Readers’ Prize.
All of his novels have been adapted for Stage Production in Russia.
Rights to the works of Mikhail Shishkin have been sold in 14 languages and they have received numerous national and international awards, including the 2007 Grinzane Cavour Award and the French literary prize for the best foreign book of the year, Le prix du meilleur livre étranger 2005.
He is a frequent guest lecturer at universities and cultural foundations across Europe and the United States. He is a frequent speaker on Television and Radio in many countries.
Prizes and awards
| 2007 | Grinzane Cavour Award |
| 2006 | Big Book Prize (Maiden Hair / Венерин волос |
| 2005 | National Best Seller (Maiden Hair / Венерин волос) |
| 2005 | Prix du Meilleur Livre Etranger, France (Montreux- Missolunghi-Astapowo: Auf den Spuren von Byron und Tolstoj / Montreux-Missolunghi-Astapovo: in the Steps of Byron and Tolstoy) |
| 2000 | Russian Booker Prize (Taking of Ismail / Взятие Измаила) |
Books
- Letter-Book, 2010
- Maiden Hair / Венерин волос, 2007
- Russian Switzerland / Русская Швейцария, 2006
- One Night Befalls Us All / Всех ожидает одна ночь, 2001
- Taking of Ismail / Взятие Измаила, 2000
- Blind Musician / Слепой музыкант, 1994
Foreign Publications
In German