Alexander Karasyov

Alexander Karasyov
Alexander Karasyov – Evening at the Zoshchenko Museum
Born	Alexandr Vladimirovich Karasyov 1971 Krasnodar, Soviet Union
Occupation	Writer
Language	Russian
Nationality	Russian
Alma mater	Kuban State University
Period	21st century, Second Chechen War
Genre	Short stories, poems, prose
Literary movement	Russian War Prose
Notable works	Chechenskiye Rasskazy, Predatel'
Notable awards	Bunin Prize (2008) Second O. Henry Prize "Dary Volhvov" (The Gift of the Magi) (New York, 2010)
Website
alexanderkarasyov.wordpress.com

Alexander Karasyov (Russian — Александр Владимирович Карасёв, transl. Alexandr Vladimirovich Karasev) is a Russian writer living in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Biography

Alexander Karasyov was born in Krasnodar, Russia, in 1971. He received degrees in history and law from the Kuban State University and worked as a mechanic, engineer, teacher, and legal advisor. He served in the army, taking part in the fights in Chechnya.

Since 2003 he has been published in literary journals. He was awarded the Bunin Prize (2008) and the Second O. Henry Prize "Dary Volhvov" (The Gift of the Magi) (New York, 2010). He is the author of the books "The Chechen Stories" (Chechenskye Rasskazy) and "Traitor" (Predatel').

Alexander Karasyov, like Arkady Babchenko and Zakhar Prilepin, is considered a representative of the Russian "New Realism" movement of the 21st century, continuing the tradition of the "lieutenant prose" of the 1960s and 1970s and military prose of the 1990s.

It seems that our younger generation of writers, already labelled "New Realists", understand this. A generation raised in a free Russia, they combine both Gogol's trends. With a command since childhood of foreign languages, to which their forefathers had no access, enjoying freedom of speech, the absence of censorship, the opportunity to travel all over the world – for example, to spend time in Gogol's beloved Rome, where he wrote Dead Souls and to read books that used to be banned, they are creating a new type of literature. They clearly see everything wrong with new society and are far from conformist, but nevertheless are not "rebels" in the 20th-century sense (eg, anarchists, hippies, France's 1968 "revolutionaries"). They are writers who assume there is a place for preaching in journalism, social and political writing and the media, but that "direct action" is the responsibility of civil society. Their names are not yet well known to "general readers", but – believe me – the future belongs to them. That's why I'll mention a few I know personally: Zakhar Prilepin, Alexander Karasyov, Dmitriy Faleyev, Vladimir Lorchenkov, Tatyana Zamirovskaya, Peter Orekhovskiy, Anton Nechayev, Ivan Klinovoy, Alexander Silayev, Yevgeni Bevers, Andrey Mukhin, Marta Ketro, Alexander Snegiryov and Viktoria Lebedeva. I recommend you make a note of these names, just in case. After all, good writers are always in short supply.

— Yevgeni Popov

Books

• Сhechen Stories (Russian — Чеченские рассказы, transl. Chechenskiye Rasskazy). — Moscow: Literary Russia, 2008. ISBN 978-5-7809-0114-3.
• Traitor (Russian — Предатель, transl. Predatel'). — Ufa: Vagant, 2011. ISBN 978-5-9635-0344-7.

In his Chechen Stories and Traitor, which are regarded as examples of modern Russian War Prose, Alexander Karasyov gives insights into life in the Russian army during the Second Chechen War. Presenting a modern war and modern warfare, the author does not rely on second hand information but on his own experience. The short stories are often as tragicomical as the Russian army itself and show Karasyov's characters not only in the war but also in their lives outside the war in their civilian life, or their so-called "life in peace" (“мирная жизнь”).

Literary magazines

Alexander Karasyov's stories and essays have been published in the following Russian literary magazines: Novy mir (Новый мир), Oktyabr' (Октябрь), Friendship of Peoples (Дружба народов), Kontinent (Континент), Neva (Нева), Ural (Урал), Nash sovremennik (Наш cовремменик), Belskie prostory (Бельские просторы).

Summary in English

• Friendship of Peoples (ALEXANDER KARASEV. Chechen Stories. The author knows what he is writing about not by hearsay and his short stories are as tragicomical as the army life itself in this Russian "hot spot").
• Novy mir (Essays: Writers about writers. “Vonnegut's Transformations" by Vladimir Berezin, "An Orthodox Rebellious" by Oleg Yermakov about Paul Bowles, "The Testament of Lieutenant Kuprin” by Alexander Karasyov and "Reider's Usurpation of Days Gone By, and Legend Founded" by Sergey Soloukh about Jaroslav Hašek.)

Publications in anthologies

• Современная литература народов России (Modern Literature of the Peoples of Russia) (2005). Moscow: Pik. ISBN 978-5-7358-0288-4
• Народ мой — большая семья: Литература наших дней. (My People — A Big Family. Literature of Our Days) (2007). Moscow: Literaturnaya Rossiya. ISBN 978-5-7809-0111-2
• Четыре шага от войны (Four Steps from War) (2010). Sankt Saint Petersburg: Limbus Press. ISBN 978-5-8370-0538-1
• Дары волхвов 2.0 (The Gift of the Magi) (2012). New York.

External links

Author

in English

• Official website

in Russian

• Alexander Karasyov in Новая литературная карта России (New literary map of Russia).

Publications

• Журнальный зал (Society of Russian Literary Magazines).
• Megalit (Eurasian Portal of Literary Magazines).
• Сетевая словесность (Setevaya slovesnost').
• Russian journal (Русский журнал).

Interviews (in Russian)

• Нужна основательная встряска. (Interview with Andrej Rudalyov)
• Критик — это как в армии замполит. (Interview with Zakhar Prilepin)
• Армия дала мне самые острые эмоции. (Interview with Roman Senchin)
• От объяснительной к рассказу. (Interview with Michail Boyko)

Bibliography

• Silver, Courtney. Criticism and Complaint In Soldiers’ Narratives of the Chechen Wars. Master thesis. University of Colorado, Boulder, 2017.