To unprepared readers, the poems of the Russian poetess, essayist and prose writer Maria Stepanova seem unusual. All works are distinguished by a special style. However, this is what helps the author stand out from the crowd. A collection of the Pasternak and Andrei Bely prize winners, the Big Book National Literary Prize in 2013, is included in the short list of the poetic distinction.
Often they say about the work of Maria Mikhailovna, as about the author’s works with a European talent scale. She wrote her first poems when she was three years old.
Way to dream
The biography of the future author began in 1972. The girl was born on June 9 in Moscow in the family of a photographer. My father specialized in restoration work, my mother worked as an engineer and wrote poetry
Since the age of 7, Maria also wanted to become a poet. Parents saw the works of the young author by the famous metropolitan philologist Timenchik. He recommended that parents completely protect their daughter from literary society and not make a child a little genius. Only in this way, in his opinion, the future author could be formed without external influence. At school, Masha studied, during classes, reading books interesting to her under her desk.
If in childhood everything that was happening took little to Mary, then in youth there was a desire to stand out from the crowd. Carried away by the hippie movement, Stepanova tried with all her might to understand its essence. At the same time, the girl sought to communicate in an informal setting with talented extraordinary personalities who gathered in the famous metropolitan cafe "Pentagon" on Petrovka.
A graduate of school decided to continue her education at the Gorky Literary Institute. In 1995, the student successfully completed her studies. Stepanova was not going to limit herself solely to the creation of poetic works. Therefore, the beginning writer did not feel herself in the role of the brilliant poet's huts for the elite comfortably. She was frightened by the very prospect of communicating exclusively with the circle of "understanding".
A major debut was the publication in the almanac "Babylon" in 1996. Stepanova's works appeared in many famous magazines of the country. Her first poetic books “Here is the Light”, “On the Twins”, “Songs of the Northern Southerners” were released in 2001.
Realization of destination
In an interview with Stepanova, she admitted that her decision was to choose a job that has nothing to do with versification. However, she did not refuse poetry either. Work began in the online edition "OpenSpace.ru", covering the main events of contemporary art and culture. The site specialized in publishing ideas for expert knowledge.
As editor-in-chief, Stepanov worked for 5 years. In this period, the Internet resource has received many prestigious awards. Maria herself was nominated for the Editor of the Year Award. In 2010, a talented author became a scholarship holder in memory of the Brodsky Foundation
The poetess left the activity after a radical change in the concept of the project in the first domestic media, financed by public investment "Colta.ru". Mary did not leave literary work. She created quite interesting prose works.
In 2014, her essays were published in the collection "One, Not One, Not Me." An off-line publication is composed of three conventional parts. The first contains extensive and serious texts. Their creation took the writer a lot of time and effort. The second part groups stories about human, mostly female, destinies and ways of being. The writer gives examples of the fight against loneliness. The plots give tips on working with a sense of uselessness and examples of ways to resist it.
Maria Mikhailovna called the last part a peculiar mix. It contains a variety of jokes and reviews. Authors' thoughts on topics of concern to the creator are also presented.
All facets of talent
For the popular project "Passion for Matthew 2000", the writer created prose. As an author, she introduced the main idea of the idea to readers and wrote texts for him.
Readers saw the first collection of essays in 2014. Stepanova appeared in the book “In Memory of Memory” in 2017 as the author of the philosophical and documentary prose direction. She is also engaged in translations from English.
In the creative portfolio of Maria Mikhailovna there is also journalism. For printed domestic publications, she writes articles. However, the author writes only on topics that really interest her. The writer is very critical of her work. Stepanova admitted that prose created by her can only be called a huge stretch.
As one of the authors of the art project of the VAC General Rehearsal Foundation, which became a real event in the capital's artistic life, the poetess spoke in 2018. It developed the themes of the inextricability of the connection between social and personal memory. Stepanova already raised this question in her essay and prose.
