Writer Andrey Kurkov has been traveling Europe promoting his books. At 49, he is possibly Ukraine’s best-known writer. With his novels translated into 25 languages, including English, his covers have regularly appeared on European best-seller lists.
Gone are the days of writing luxuriously, Kurkov told an audience at Lviv’s book festival in September. “I’ve learned to travel everywhere with a notebook computer. I write in hotels, in planes.”
Kurkov gained international recognition after the 2001 publication of “Death and the Penguin.” It is the story of a Kyiv writer named Victor who adopts a depressed penguin from the zoo and who writes obituaries of people who are still living, containing coded messages to the mafia for their next hits.
That was followed by other books including “A Matter of Death and Life,” “The Good Angel of Death,” “Penguin Lost” and “The President’s Last Love.”
Most of his works are available in English. His acclaim is now so widespread that Kurkov has been asked to be a juror for several literary awards, including Great Britain’s prestigious Booker Prize.
Success, however, has been hard won.
Kurkov, whose first attempts at literature came in childhood poems about the deaths of his pet hamster and Vladimir Lenin, spent years trying to get published abroad. When he finally did receive a positive response, Kurkov spent the next several days feeling lost because the effort of getting published outside his homeland had become the rhythm of his life.
Nowadays, however, Kurkov spends much of his time helping to promote other writers. An ethnic Russian, Kurkov has become a passionate proponent of Ukrainian-language books and authors.
The Ukrainian-language market is growing much faster than the Russian.”
– Andrey Kurkov.
“The Ukrainian-language market is growing much faster than the Russian,” he said during an interview with the Kyiv Post.
In part, that is because a new crop of Ukrainian-language writers – Irena Karpa, Liubko Deresh, Serhei Zhadan – are producing works , sometimes surreal and esoteric, which have struck a chord with younger audiences. “They prefer this kind of literature,” Kurkov said of contemporary Ukrainians.
Reading books in Ukrainian has also become a form of “protest” for many young people who are opposed to the policies of President Viktor Yanukovych and the current government, which continue to undermine the Ukrainian language, Kurkov said.
The Ukrainian-language novel is popular in eastern Ukraine and Ukrainian is becoming fashionable at universities. “I’m optimistic Ukraine will never become more Russian than it was,” he said.
Kurkov, whose novels betray a political undercurrent, has not shied away from criticizing the current administration. He said president is “not educated enough” and that “the Russians are pushing Yanukovych into an awkward position” because they are not showing Ukraine preferential treatment.
It’s easy to judge Russia because it’s predictable,” he said. Its goal “is to recreate the Soviet Union.”
– Andrey Kurkov
The political situation that has developed in recent months is “probably more sad than dangerous,” he contends. “It’s more or less obvious that the opposition isn’t united, but is a group of ambitious people.”
Kurkov was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, to a mother who was a doctor and a father who was a test pilot. He moved to Kyiv as a child and the capital has been his home for decades. Married to an Englishwoman, he is the father of three children.
Kyiv and its multiples layers are at the heart of many of Kurkov’s books and he has been known to give guests tours of the city on occasion. “For some, Kyiv is a part of an exotic world,” he said.
Kurkov has written 13 novels and 5 children’s books. His latest work, Sadovnyk iz Ochakova, published by Folio this year, tells the story of a 30-year-old man who puts on an old police uniform that transports him back in time and place to 1957 Ochakiv, where numerous surprises await him.
Kurkov writes in Russian since it is the language with which he is most comfortable. He wrote one story in Ukrainian this year for a book about dreams that was published by Ivan Malkovych, the renowned children’s book publisher.
Despite his international acclaim, Kurkov seems underappreciated at home. His recent experience in France promoting “Milkman in the Night” highlights the difference between how other countries and Ukraine honor their writers.
When he was in France, Kurkov gave numerous media interviews and appeared on the nation’s leading television stations to talk about his work. During the Lviv book forum, he was asked at the last minute to present a talk. Still, Kurkov is determined to forge on and continue taking his laptop on the road. “I want to help promote new writers,” he said.
Kyiv Post staff writer Natalia A. Feduschak can be reached at [email protected]
