Oleg Yermakov is a

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

writer. He was born in

Smolensk Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest cities in Russia. It has been a regional capital for most of ...

in 1961, and worked in a forest reserve near

Lake Baikal Lake Baikal is a rift lake and the deepest lake in the world. It is situated in southern Siberia, Russia between the Federal subjects of Russia, federal subjects of Irkutsk Oblast, Irkutsk Oblasts of Russia, Oblast to the northwest and the Repu ...

before doing his military service during the

war in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC), the conquest of Afghanistan by the Macedonian Empire * Muslim conquests of Afghanistan, a series of campaigns in ...

. His experiences formed the basis of an acclaimed collection of short stories, titled '' Afghan Stories'' (1991). He followed up with a novel, ''The Mark of the Beast'' (1994) which was nominated for the

Russian Booker Prize The Russian Booker Prize (, ''Russian Booker'') was a Russian literary award modeled after the Booker Prize. It was awarded from 1992 to 2017. It was inaugurated by English Chief Executive Sir Michael Harris Caine. It was awarded each year to ...

. His war writing has been compared to that of Tolstoy and the literature of the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. Ermakov's work is heavily engaged with the question of place as evidenced by books such as ''Rainbow and Heather'', a 2018 Big Book Award finalist, set in

, and ''The Tungus’s Song'', a 2017 Yasnaya Polyana Award finalist, set in Siberia. Other places important in his work are the Altai,

Baikal Lake Baikal is a rift lake and the deepest lake in the world. It is situated in southern Siberia, Russia between the federal subjects of Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and the Republic of Buryatia to the southeast. At —slightly larger tha ...

, and Barguzin areas as well as Afghanistan. The 2012 collection of stories, ''The Arithmetic of War'', returns to this theme in his work. Ermakov has stated his admiration for other Afgantsy writers such as

Igor Frolov Igor Igorevich Frolov (; born 23 January 1990) is a Russian road cyclist, who currently ride for Vietnamese amateur team TP Ho Chi Minh New Group. Major results ;2008 : 9th Overall Tour de la Région de Lodz ;2010 : 1st Stage 5 Carpathia Courie ...

and Igor Afanasyev. His work has been translated into English and French, among other languages.

Works

* ''Libgerik'', novel, 2019 * ''The Anarchist's Book of the Dove'', novel, 2018 * ''Rainbow and Heather'' – finalist, Big Book Award, 2018 * ''The Tungus's Song'' – winner of reader prize, finalist for jury prize, Yasnaya Polyana Award, 2017 * ''Canvas'' – finalist,

, 2005 * ''Sign of the Beast'' – finalist,

, 1993 * ''The Arithmetic of War'', short fiction collection, 2012 * ''Afghan Tales: Stories from Russia's Vietnam'', translated by Marc Romano; William Morrow & Company, 1993

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yermakov, Oleg Russian male writers 1961 births Living people Soviet military personnel of the Soviet–Afghan War

Works

See also

References