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Denis Gutsko
Gutsko is an honest, intelligent, subtle artist - Zahar Prilepin
Denis Gutsko was born in Tbilisi in 1969. In 1989 he moved to Rostov-on-Don where he lives to this day. He studied at the Geology and Geography Faculty of Rostov University and served a stint in the Soviet army. His father fought in the Abkhazian-Georgian conflicts of the early 1990s. After demobilisation Gutsko had difficulties with official registration and for several years worked as a bodyguard for a commercial security firm, writing prose in his spare time.
Gutsko made his literary debut in 2000 with the short story ‘Прирученный лев’ (‘The Domesticated Lion’) and has since been published frequently in literary journals and magazines. His novel ‘Без Рути-Следа’ (‘Without Track or Trace’) which explores the tribulations of a Russian born in Tbilisi, won the Boris Sokolov Prize in 2005 and, in controversial circumstances, the Russian Booker Prize in the same year - despite a vote of four to one in his favour, the Booker Prize committee’s chairman publicly refused to name Gutsko the winner.
Unsurprisingly, given his background, Gutsko’s work tends to focus on the intricacies of war and the phenomenon of multi-ethnic and national conflicts. He explores the problems of identity in post-Soviet space: problems which, in his writing, manifest themselves in pathos and absurdity as well as in violence.
Publicationed works:
'The Russian Speaker', novel, 'Vagrius', 2005. The stories 'There, by the waters of Babylon' and the novel 'Without a trace' were included.
'Pokemon's Day', collection of short stories, 'Vremia', 2007.
'A Little House in Armagedon', forthcoming novel from 'AST'
Prizes and awards:
2004: The 'Inspire Paris' Prize from the Reserve Foundation Charity.
2004: The 'Russian Booker' Prize for the novel 'Without a Trace'
Contacts:
344113, Rostov on the Don, Dobrovolskaya Street, 36/3, flat 31
Home telephone: (863) 2 306 914, mobile: 8 906 42 32 135