Vladimir Sharov
Mysticism and Religion in Contemporary Russian Literature
13 April, 7pm, Waterstones Piccadilly
Biography
A historian of medieval Russia by training, Vladimir Sharov , born 1952, began writing fiction in the late 1970s, echoing his father's own move from genetics to writing in the 1960s. Nevertheless, it was not until the 1990s that Sharov's highly unusual historical-philosophical novels came to the attention of the public. When they did, they caused genuine acrimony and controversy among the editors of influential literary journals, especially Novyi Mir. Many were appalled both by Sharov's literary method and by his use of fiction to explore the mythological and religious substrata of Russian (and especially Revolutionary) history and thought.
Undeterred, Sharov has continued in his distinctive groove, writing what amounts to an ongoing commentary on philosophy history, and the sacred texts. Many critics now consider Sharov to be a ‘living classic'; nevertheless, in these complex meditations, the views of the author himself remain elusive. Sharov has described himself, in an interview with Moskovskie novosti, as a realist, and he ridicules the notion that he is an author of ‘para-historical' fiction, arguing that there is a real history which is not the history of facts and events and which does not find its way into school textbooks.
Books /selected/
Будьте как дети / Be Like Children (2008)
20 лет на свободе / 20 Years of Freedom(2006)
Воскрешение Лазаря / The Resurrection of Lazarus (2003)
Старая девочка / The Old Little Girl (2000)
Prizes and awards
The Book of the Year Prize (2008)
Shortlisted for the Big Book Prize (2008)
The Znamia Foundation Prize (1998)
