Dmitri Lipskerov

Dmitri Mikhailovich Lipskerov (Russian: Дми́трий Миха́йлович Ли́пскеров) (born February 19, 1964 in Moscow, Russia) is an acclaimed Russian writer and dramatist. He emerged as a popular author in the late 1990s with two novels: The Forty Years of Changzhoeh and The Gottlieb Space. The first one of these was published by Vagrius in its Black Series, which brought together works of fiction by the older generation of counter-culture icons (Eduard Limonov, Vasily Aksyonov and others) and the nascent generation of post-Soviet novelists (such as Victor Pelevin and Lipskerov himself), and was greeted enthusiastically by the younger generation of readers. Lipskerov's style is a mixture of realism and fantasy; while the focus of his writing is on establishing the personal relations between the characters, the latter often function in a world, in which Russian reality is transformed through both explicit invention and blending of different periods in a single "community", where the action is taking place. This, along with the title of his first novel, prompted many critics to compare him with Gabriel García Márquez.

Biography

Dmitri Lipskerov was born in 1964 in Moscow, into the family of a well-known dramatist and animator Mikhail Lipskerov (with whom he is not to be confused). Upon graduating from the prestigious Schukin Theater Academy in 1985, he started writing plays and joined the Soviet Writers Union in 1989. In the early 1990s his plays were staged by some of the foremost Russian directors (Mark Zakharov, Oleg Tabakov). The Forty Years of Chanchzhoeh appeared in Novyi Mir in 1996 and the following year was published by Vagrius. Five more novels and two collections of shorter works were published as of 2005. All of his novels have been nominated, and The Forty Years of Chanchzhoeh short-listed, for the Russian Booker Prize.

Lipskerov lives in Moscow, and in addition to his literary work, is known as a successful restaurant owner. In 1998 he became one of the founders of the "Debut" prize for works of fiction by young Russian writers.

Controversy

On June 3rd, 2005, Lipskerov (together with radio personality A.Gordon) has circulated an "Open letter to journalists of radio station Echo of Moscow" ^[1] expressing support for state-run campaign against Mikhail Khodorkovsky directed on takeover of his oil company Yukos which culminated in Khodorkovski's conviction and imprisonment. In subsequent discussions ^[2] there followed allegations of revival of Soviet tradition of KGB-orchestrated participation of intelligentsia in 'public campaign of protest' along with staged show trials.

Bibliography

• Sorok let Chanchzhoe (The Forty Years of Chanchzhoeh) - 1997
• Prostranstvo Gotliba (The Gottlieb's Space) - 1998
• Poslednii Son Razuma (Last Dream of Reason) - 2000
• Pal'tsy dlia Kerolain (Fingers for Caroline) - 2001
• Rodichi (Relatives) - 2001
• Edipov Kompleks (Oedipus Complex) - 2002
• Russkoe stakkato - britanskoi materi (Russian Staccato for the British Mother) - 2002
• Oseni ne budet nikogda (Autumn Never Comes) - 2004
• Leonid Obyazatelno Umret (Leonid Will Certainly Die) - 2006

External links

• Official website

References

1. ^ [1]| Site of 'Human rights Organization', in Russian
2. ^ [2]| Transcript from Russian Radio Liberty

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Name	Lipskerov, Dmitri
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Date of birth	February 19, 1964
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