Mikhail Shishkin is a Russian writer, author of novels that have received worldwide recognition. The writer is the winner of the Big Book, Russian Booker and National Best Seller awards. He lives in Switzerland and writes his works in Russian and in German.
Biography
Mikhail was born in Moscow on January 18, 1961. His father, a submariner, was a member of the Great Patriotic War, twice awarded the Order of the Red Banner.
My paternal grandfather was dispossessed in 1930, repressed and sent to the construction of BAM, where he died. My grandmother fled to Moscow with two children, got a job as a cleaner and raised her sons as best she could. The elder brother (Uncle Michael) was shot in 1942 in German captivity. Shishkin's father went to war at the age of 17 to avenge his brother, and later continued his career as a military man.
Mother worked as a teacher and party organizer at school. In 1959, a scandal broke out in the school, in which a student Vladimir Bukovsky (a future dissident and an ardent opponent of communism) took part and Mikhail's mother had to leave work. However, thanks to maternity leave, she managed to keep her job, and in the future to become the head teacher and director. When the time came, Mikhail went to study at the school where his mother worked.
Michael did not have a complete and happy family, his parents broke up before his birth.
The family did not live well, so Mikhail began to earn extra money early. He managed to stay as a janitor and asphalt paver.
Despite the difficulties of life, the young man successfully entered the Moscow State Pedagogical University at the Roman – German faculty and graduated from it in 1982.
Creation
After graduation, Shishkin worked in the journal "Peer." However, due to his opposition views and publishing policies, he had to leave.
Ever since school times, Mikhail had his own clear position with respect to the Soviet regime, but in the 80s of the last century a negative opinion about the "powers that be" was not openly welcomed, and as a result, a principled journalist left to work as a teacher of foreign languages at school.
Shishkin began publishing his work in 1993. In 1995, the author moved permanently to Switzerland, where he lives to this day.
Shishkin regularly publishes his stories and novels in Russian and German, and is engaged in translations.
His books are very popular and awarded various literary prizes. The best works of Mikhail Shishkin are: “Venus of Hair”, “Notes of Larionov”, “The Taking of Ishmael” and “The Writer”.
His prose is a combination of Russian and European literary traditions. A distinctive feature of the author is his relation to time, in his books the time frame is blurred, and actions sometimes occur parallel to each other.
Based on Shishkin’s novels “The Writer, ” “Taking Ishmael, ” and “Venus of Hair, ” performances were staged in theaters in Moscow. They fell in love with the audience and were successful.
The author's piggy bank has many awards and prizes for his literary work. Among them are "Big Book", "Russian Booker", "National Bestseller" and many others.
