Pavel Basinsky
Genres
Contemporary Fiction, Biography, Literary Essays
Biography
Pavel Basinsky was born in 1961 in Frolovo, near Volgograd. He studied at Saratov University and at the Maxim Gorky Literary Institute in Moscow. A prolific journalist and author, Basinsky has excelled at a number of genres, from scholarly monographs to experimental novels. Basinsky holds a PhD in Comparative Literature, has sat on the jury of several major Russian literary prizes, such as the Russian Booker, the Alexander Solzhenitsyn Prize and the Yasnaya Polyana Prize, and is the Cultural Editor of Rossiiskaia Gazeta. He is married with two children and lives in Moscow.
Pavel Basinsky’s latest book, Leo Tolstoy: Escape from Paradise, came out in July 2010 and within two months had already been reprinted twice. According to sales figures from some of the largest Russian bookshops such as Moskva, Biblioglobus and Moscow House of Books, Escape from Paradise ranks among the top ten most popular books for Summer-Autumn 2010.
'Leo Tolstoy: Escape from Paradise' is a detailed chronicle of Tolstoy's life, examined from every possible angle. A superb piece of non-fiction.' Lev Danilkin, Afisha
'In Tolstoy's irrational flight one can find the hidden logic of the Russian national character, and even our history.' Vera Kopylova, Moskovskii komsomolets
Prizes and awards
| 2010 | The Big Book Prize (Leo Tolstoy: Escape from Paradise / Лев Толстой: бегство из рая) |
| 2010 | Book of the Year (Leo Tolstoy: Escape from Paradise / Лев Толстой: бегство из рая) |
| 2008 | Shortlisted for the Big Book Prize (A Russian Romance, or The Life and Adventures of John Polovnik / Русский роман, или Жизнь и приключения Джона Половинкина) |
| 1998 | The Antibooker Prize Ray of Light Award for literary criticism |
Books
- Leo Tolstoy: Escape from Paradise, 2010
- Maxim Gorky: Myth and Biography / Максим Горький. Миф и биография, 2008
- A Russian Romance or The Life and Adventures of John Polovnik / Русский роман или Жизнь и приключения Джона Половинкина, 2008
- A Humble Aristocrat / Смиренник и аристократ, 2006
- The Family as a Form of Mysticism / Семья как мистика, 2006
- Gorky / Горький, 2005
- The Prisoner of Moscow / Московский пленник, 2004
- Writer Par Excellence / Писатель par excellence, 2002
- Russian Literature of the Late 19th and Early 20th centuries and the First Emigration / Русская литература конца XIX начала XX веков и первой эммиграции, 1998
- Themes and Characters / Сюжеты и лица, 1993
Sample translations
Leo Tolstoy: Flight from Paradise (Лев Толстой: Бегство из рая)