Calligraphy Lesson
The Collected Stories
Mikhail Shishkin author Marian Schwartz translator Leo Shtutin translator Mariya Bashkatova translator Sylvia Maizell translator
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Deep Vellum Publishing
Published:28th May '15
£13.00
Available to order, but very limited on stock - if we have issues obtaining a copy, we will let you know.
Review copies available upon request New story to be published in The White Review to coordinate with book launch Print publicity targeting literary journals and newspaper book sections Promotion on LibraryThing, Goodreads, Riffle, and other social reading websites Promotion on the publisher's website (deepvellum.org), Twitter feed (@deepvellum), and Facebook page (/deepvellum) Promotion in the publisher’s e-newsletter Promotion at the Association of Writers and Writing Programs Conference, the American Literary Translators Association Conference, and Book Expo America Second serial rights targeting One Story, The Paris Review, Guernica, Tin House, McSweeney’s, the New Yorker, and others Publicity targeting The New Inquiry, The Millions, Full-Stop, The Nervous Breakdown, HTMLGIANT, Three Percent, The Literary Saloon, the Quarterly Conversation, and more Advertising in The American Reader, Granta, The Rumpus, The White Review, A Public Space, Little Star, The Coffin Factory, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, Electric Literature, Music & Literature, and others
The first short story collection by the greatest contemporary Russian writer, Mikhail Shishkin, spanning his entire writing career, 1993-2013."A welcome volume of stories from Russia's finest contemporary fiction writer, Mikhail Shishkin, full of his typical fusing of mysticism and modernist experimentation." --Sam Sacks, Wall Street Journal The first English-language collection of short stories by Russia's greatest contemporary author, Mikhail Shishkin, the only author to win all three of Russia's most prestigious literary awards. Often included in discussions of Nobel Prize contenders, Shishkin is a master prose writer in the breathtakingly beautiful style of the greatest Russian authors, known for complex, allusive novels about universal and emotional themes. Shishkin's stories read like modern versions of the eternal literature written by his greatest inspirations: Boris Pasternak, Ivan Bunin, Leo Tolstoy, and Mikhail Bulgakov. Shishkin's short fiction is the perfect introduction to his breathtaking oeuvre, his stories touch on the same big themes as his novels, spanning discussions of love and loss, death and eternal life, emigration and exile. Calligraphy Lesson spans Shishkin's entire writing career, including his first published story, the 1993 Debut Prize--winning "Calligraphy Lesson," and his most recent story "Nabokov's Inkblot," which was written for a dramatic adaptation performed in Zurich in 2013. Mikhail Shishkin (b. 1961 in Moscow) is one of the most prominent names in contemporary Russian literature. A former interpreter for refugees in Switzerland, Shishkin divides his time between Moscow, Switzerland, and Germany.
World Literature Today Editor's Pick: Summer Reads (2015) "Shishkin tends not to be sentimental or idealistic-- indeed, he is usually quite the opposite--and this gives the more positive or transcendent moments extra punch." -- Sibelan Forrester, The Slavic Review "Shishkin is virtuosic, his subjects move through others' stories in dizzying/awe-inspiring ways. Incredible!" -- Maaza Mengiste, author of Beneath the Lion's Gaze "Though the stories in CALLIGRAPHY LESSON are steeped in Russian history and have a distinctly Russian tone, many of the philosophical quandaries they engage extend beyond language and borders -- they are universal problems, and this translation boldly and successfully takes them on." -- Caroline North, Dallas Observer "Shishkin is fantastically, magically talented." -- Julie Hersh, Music & Literature "Compact, and at times riveting to read, this collection delivers a well-rounded portrait of Russian's most acclaimed contemporary writer." -- Lucy Renner Jones, Words Without Borders "An ideal introduction to Shishkin and his work." -- Michael Orthofer, Complete Review "Nothing I read about [Shishkin], however, quite prepared me for the desperate urgency of CALLIGRAPHY LESSON, as if its lyricism were only a last match struck against the darkness. His prose breathes life -- doesn't breathe it, gasps it, aware of the perishability of words, of worlds dying in each instant, and us dying with them, as life is beaten out of us second by second." -- Cynthia Haven, The Book Haven "Characters with great pathos navigate a distinctly post-Soviet bedlam ... The collection consists of artfully constructed, empathetic tales of people living in the midst cyclonic time." -- Jacob Kiernan, New Orleans Review "I highly recommend Calligraphy Lesson for the beautiful language, moving stories and the emotional characters." -- The Book Binder's Daughter "Complex and allusive ... juxtaposed with autobiographical -- and at times overtly politicised -- narratives ... [the final story] takes us beyond fiction and into the realm of the philosophical essay ... the collection stands at the nexus between Shishkin's novelistic output and his increasingly outspoken forays into the political arena ...In CALLIGRAPHY LESSON, he celebrates art's -- and, more specifically, language's -- capacity to elevate us to the time-annihilating plateau." -- Leo Shtutin, Open Democracy "Shishkin's life-affirming language posits transcendence." -- Robert H. McCormick Jr., World Literature Today "Shishkin's agile, inventive narration reveals his homeland anew, showing once again why he has become one of Russia's most valued storytellers--and an important new author in the West." -- Literalab "[A] skillful achievement of complex, stylistic prose to evoke poignant themes common to all people, including love, life, family, and death. [Shishkin's] particular style is impressionistic, which matches the characteristics of his dominating theme: language." -- Daniel P. Haeusser, Reading 1000 Lives
ISBN: 9781941920039
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: 240g
180 pages