ASTAFYEV, Victor 1924-2001

PERSONAL:

Born 1924, in Ovsyanka, Siberia; died November 29, 2001, in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia; married; wife's name Maria; children: Irina.

CAREER:

Writer. Worked as an ironworker. Military service: Russian Army, World War II; served in communications troops.

AWARDS, HONORS:

State Prize of Russia, 1975, for The Damned and the Dead; named Hero of Socialist Labour.

WRITINGS:

The Crossing, 1959.

Tak Khochetsia Zhit': Povesti i Rasskazy, Izd-vo Knizhnaia Palata, 1966.

Krazha.—Gde-to Gremit Voina, Mol. Gvardiia, 1968.

Poslednii Poklon, Perm', Kn. izd., 1968.

Sinie Sumerki, 1968.

Der Diebstahl, Buchclub 65 (Berlin, Germany), 1969.

Starodub, 1969.

The Horse with the Pink Mane and Other Siberian Stories, translated by Robert Daglish, illustrations by B.A. Markevich, Progress Publishers (Moscow, USSR), 1970.

Izluchina: Rasskazy, Sovremennik, 1972.

Povesti o Moem Sovremennike, Mol. Gvardiia, 1972.

Zatesi. Kniga Korotkikh Rasskazov, Sov. Pisatel', 1972.

Iasnym li Dnem, 1973.

Gde-to Gremit Viona: Provesti i Rasskazy, Sovremennik, 1975.

Povesti, 1976.

Mal'chik v Beloi Rubakhe, 1977.

Povesti, Rasskazy, Zatesi, 1977.

The Horse with the Pink Mane = Kon's Rozovoi Grivoi, Progress Publishers (Moscow, Russia), 1978.

Strizhonok Skrip, Izd-vo Malysh, 1979.

Sobranie Sochinenii, Mol. Gvardiia, 1979-1981.

Tsar'-ryba: Provestvovanie v Rasskazakh, Sov. Pisatel', 1980.

Posokh Pamiati, Sovremennik, 1980.

Drevnee, Vechnoe, Sov. Rossiia, 1980.

Queen Fish: A Story in Two Parts and Twelve Episodes, Progress Publishers (Moscow, USSR) 1982.

(With others) Sannyiput': Rasskazy, Vostochno-Sibirshoe Izd-Vo, 1983.

Na Dalekoi Severnoi Vershine: Povesti, Rasskazy, Krasnoiarshoe Knizhnoe Izd-Vo, 1984.

Vsemu Svoi Chas, Molodaia Gvardiia, 1985.

Zhizn' Prozhit': Roman, Rasskazy, Sovremennik, 1986.

Padenie Lista: Roman, Rasskazy, Ocherki, Sov. Pisatel, 1988.

(With others) 15 Vstrech v Ostankine, Izd-vo Polit. Lit-ry, 1989.

Takoe Dlinnoe, Dlinnoe Pis'mo Viktoru Astafiev i Drugie Poslaniia s Kartinkami v Cherno-Belom Tsvete, Ganatleba, 1989.

To Live Your Life and Other Stories, Raduga Publishers (Moscow, USSR), 1989.

Ulybka Volchitsy, Izd-vo Knizhnaia Palata, 1990.

Pechalnyi Detektive: Roman, (The Sad Detective), Profizdat, 1991.

Mnoiu Rozhdennyi: Roman, Povesti, Rasskazy, Khudozh Lit-ra, 1991.

Prokliaty i Ubity: Roman (title means "The Damned and the Slain"), Izd-Vo Riotio, 1993.

Russkii Almaz: Rasskazy, Zatesi, Iskusstvo, 1994.

The Condemned and the Killed, 1995.

Sobranie Sochinenii: V Piatnadtsati Tomakh, Ofset, 1997-1998.

Blagogovenie, IPK, 1999.

Veselyi Soldat, Limbus Press, 1999.

Povesti, Rasskazy, Esse, U-Faktoriia, 2000.

Proletnyigus': Rasskazy, Zatesi, Vospominaniia, Izdatel Skaia Gruppa Vektor, 2001.

Books translated into twenty-seven languages. Author of Somewhere Sounds the War, The King Fish, How I Get Them and They Had Me, A Feast of Solidarity, I Want to Survive, and The Jolly Soldier.

SIDELIGHTS:

Viktor Astafiev's works are well known in his native Russia. Many have been translated into twenty-seven different languages. A contributor to the Russian PEN Centre Web site described Astafiev as "the mouthpiece of the nation." His books are about the various aspects of living in Russia and are now studied in Russian schools.

Astafiev's Queen Fish is a collection of twelve stories about life and surviving in Siberia's Yenisey territory. The characters in the stories are hunters, fishermen, and seasonal workers who must cooperate with others in order to meet their needs and survive. Along the way many of them learn valuable lessons. In a review for World Literature Today, Margot K. Frank claimed a "face-to-face encounter with the mystery and reality of creation."

In his book The Jolly Soldier Astafiev describes how, during World War II, young men were inadequately trained in the Soviet army and still sent into war. He also claims that some citizens of the Soviet Union were relieved when the Germans invaded because they hoped Stalin would be overthrown. Many of Astafiev's books have received high praise, but The Jolly Soldier did not. UNESCO Courier contributor Nick Holdsworth noted that Astafiev was "pilloried in the press and vilified by regional politicians."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Christian Science Monitor, October 8, 1987, Paul Quinn-Judge, "Kremlin Renews Its Attack on Brezhnev Years," pp. 9-10.

New York Times, December 3, 2001, "Viktor Astafyev, Who Wrote of Rural Russia, Dies at 77," p. F6.

Soviet Life, October, 1988, Valeri Demin, "The Writer and His Land," p. 28.

Times Literary Supplement, January 7, 1994, Alla Latynina, "The Russian Booker: Rewarding Reputation," p. 10; January 7, 1994, Geoffrey Hosking, "…Or a Final Reckoning?," p. 10.

UNESCO Courier, November, 2001, Nick Holdsworth, "Bound by Nostalgia," p. 33.

World Literature Today, spring, 1984, Margot K. Frank, review of Queen Fish, p. 288.

ONLINE

Pravda,http://english.pravda.ru/ (July 29, 2002), "Viktor Astafiev Died."

Russian PEN Centre Web site,http://www.penrussia.org/ (July 18, 2002), "Viktor Astafiev."

Voice of Russia,http://www.vor.ru/ (July 29, 2002), "The Russian Character."*