Andrey Kurkov - Ukraine Diaries and other works (11 books)

ANDREY KURKOV (b. 1961) is a Ukrainian novelist, journalist and public intellectual who writes in Russian. He is the country's most famous and successful living writer, and has been described as "the Ukrainian Murakami". He is a respected commentator on Ukraine for the international media, notably in Europe and the United States, and has written for various publications worldwide. All his work is bound up with Ukrainian life in the post-Soviet era, full of black humour and elements of surrealism.

Kurkov came to prominence in the west with his bestselling novel DEATH AND THE PENGUIN (1996), which features a Kyiv obituary writer, Viktor, and his pet penguin who has been rescued when the zoo closed down. Viktor's hapless wanderings take him through a country where Soviet absurdities have been replaced by the equally dark absurdities of organised crime.

Half a dozen more novels have followed in which Kurkov ingeniously explored the political, psychological and emotional travails of a diverse gallery of Ukrainians. It is a body of work that has drawn both critical and popular praise. Among his most high profile admirers is Michal Palin, who applauded the "deceptive ease" with which Kurkov draws the reader "into a dense, complex world full of wonderful characters".

THE BICKFORD FUSE (2009) was praised by The Guardian as a "genre-defying work, fusing picaresque adventure with post-apocalyptic parable". Kurkov himself called it "the dearest and most important of all my works". His most recently translated novel, GREY BEES (2018), is set in the "grey zone" between Ukrainian troops and Russian separatist forces in the Donbas region following the 2014 annexation of Crimea. It follows the plight of a retired official turned beekeeper as he moves his hives to escape to safety.

UKRAINE DIARIES (2014) is Kurkov’s first-hand account of the wave of pro-European demonstrations and civil unrest in Ukraine that began in November 2013. The diaries begin on the first day of the protests and describe the violent clashes in the Maidan, the impeachment of ex-president Viktor Yanukovych, Russia’s annexation of Crimea, and the separatist uprisings in the east of Ukraine. Going beyond the headlines, they give vivid insight into what it’s like to live through — and try to make sense of — times of intense political unrest.

Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Kurkov became an internally displaced person. He has changed locations at least twice since the invasion began, after receiving information he is on a "wanted list" for his outspoken criticism of Putin. He continues to write and broadcast about the war.


The following books are in ePUB format unless otherwise noted:

== FICTION ==

* A Matter of Death and Life (Vintage, 2006). G. Bird, tr.
* Bickford Fuse, The (MacLeHose, 2016). B. Dralyuk, tr. — PDF
* Case of the General's Thumb (Melville House, 2012). Bird, tr. — ePUB + PDF
* Death and the Penguin (Melville House, 2001). G. Bird, tr.
* Gardener from Ochakov, The (Harvill Secker, 2013). A. Darragh, tr.
* Good Angel of Death, The (Vintage, 2010). A. Bromfield, tr.
* Grey Bees (MacLehose, 2020 / Deep Vellum, 2022). B. Dralyuk, tr.
* Milkman in the Night, The (Vintage, 2012). A. Darragh, tr. — PDF
* Penguin Lost (Melville House, 2004). G. Bird, tr.
* President's Last Love, The (Vintage, 2008). G. Bird, tr.

== NON-FICTION ==

* Ukraine Diaries: Dispatches from Kiev (Harvill Secker, 2014). S. Taylor, tr.


Glory to Ukraine and its heroes!

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