Igor Georgievich Vishnevetsky (; born 5 January 1964) is a Russian-born poet, novelist, screenwriter, and editor. He has been a contributor and editor in numerous literary journals, anthologies, and scholarly periodicals since the 1980s. Some of his work has been published in English, including a translated version of his first novel, ''Leningrad'' (2010).
Biography
Igor Vishnevetsky was born in
Rostov-on-Don
Rostov-on-Don is a port city and the administrative centre of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies in the southeastern part of the East European Plain on the Don River, from the Sea of Azov, directly north of t ...
in 1964 to Georgiy and Alla Vishnevetsky. Vishnevetsky originally aspired to become a
composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and def ...
. He studied piano performance in
school
A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...
and audited
music theory
Music theory is the study of theoretical frameworks for understanding the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory": The first is the "Elements of music, ...
Moscow State University
Moscow State University (MSU), officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,. is a public university, public research university in Moscow, Russia. The university includes 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, more than 300 departments, a ...
to pursue a degree in
philology
Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...
. After graduating in 1986, Vishnevetsky became an active member of the poetry and art scenes in Moscow and
St. Petersburg
Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...
prior to the break-up of the
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
.
Vishnevetsky emigrated to the United States in 1992. Since that time his creative work has been done chiefly in North America.
In 1996 Vishnevetsky received a Ph.D. in Russian Literature from the Department of Slavic Languages of
Brown University
Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...
. Subsequently, he taught at Emory University for five years. In the 2000s, he has also become a notable music historian, and is considered an authority on
Sergei Prokofiev
Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''. , group=n ( – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor who l ...
and the Russian-American composer Vladimir Dukelsky.
Vishnevetsky also was a visiting professor of Russian and Film at
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The institution was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools. In 1912, it became the Carnegie Institu ...
. During this time, he wrote his experimental novel ''Leningrad'' which describes the dehumanizing effects of the Finno-German siege of the city during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
and deals with transformation of former Russian capital into a Soviet city. Praised for its insights into the minds of the people who experienced the collapse of everything associated with humanity, ''Leningrad'' won a 2010 award for the best fiction published in Russia's leading literary periodical '' Novyi mir''. In 2012 it won a prestigious "New Verbal Art (Novaya Slovesnost', or NoS)" literary award.
Since 2010 Vishnevetsky had been working on a film version of ''Leningrad''. The film was completed in 2014 (a slightly shorter version in 2015) and received a number of awards. Film historian and critic
Franciscan University of Steubenville
Franciscan University of Steubenville is a Private university, private Third Order Regular of St. Francis of Penance, Franciscan university in Steubenville, Ohio, United States. As of fall 2023, the university enrolled 3,750 students in 40 under ...
.
Vishnevetsky is an Eastern Orthodox Christian. His son is film critic
Ignatiy Vishnevetsky
Ignatiy Igorevich Vishnevetsky (; ; born September 5, 1986) is a Russian-American film critic, essayist, and columnist. He has worked as a staff film critic for ''The A.V. Club'' and written for Mubi.com and the ''Chicago Reader''.
Vishnevets ...
.
Bibliography
Collected poetry
* ''Poems'' (Stikhotvoreniya). Moscow: ALVA-XXI, 1992. 42 pp.
* ''Threefold Vision'' (Troynoe zrenie). New York: Slovo/Word, 1997. 88 pp.
* ''Air Mail: Poems 1996-2001'' (Vozdushnaya pochta: Stikhi 1996–2001). Moscow: Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie, 2001. 96 pp.
* ''West of the Sun'' (Na zapad solntsa). Moscow: Nauka; Russkiy Gulliver, 2006. 278 pp.
* ''First Snow'' (Pervosnezhye). Moscow: Russkiy Gulliver, 2008. 76 pp.
* ''Rhymologion'' (Stikhoslov). Moscow: Ikar, 2008. 126 pp.
* ''Collected Poems 2002-2020'' (Sobranie strikhotvorenii 2002–2020). Moscow: Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie, 2021. 308 pp.
Fiction
* ''Leningrad: povest'.'' Moscow: Vremya, 2012. 160 pp.
* ''Leningrad: A novel.'' Translated by Andrew Bromfield. Champaign - London - Dublin: Dalkey Archive Press, 2013. 124 pp.
* ''Leningrad.'' Translated into Macedonian by Мirjana Naumovski. Skopje: Bata pres, 2014. 154 pp.
* ''Non-Elective Affinities'' (Neizbiratelinoe srodstvo[: сollected prose – novels ''Leningrad'' (2009), ''Islands in the Lagoon / Ostrova v lagune'' (2012), ''Non-Elective Affinities / Neizbiratelinoe srodstvo'' (2013-2017), short fiction ''Poet Who Was Not Forgotten / Nezabytyi poet'' (2012)]). Moscow: EKSMO, 2018. 384 pp.
* ''Leningrad.'' Traduzione a cura di Daniela Rizzi e Luisa Ruvoletto. Venezia: Libreria Editrice Cafoscarina, 2019. 216 pp.
* ''Le affinità non elettive: romanzo. Anno 1835.'' Traduzione, postfazione e cura di Iris Karafillidis; prefazione di Stefano Garzonio. Pisa: Pisa University Press, 2023. 216 pp.
Academic works (selected)
* ''Tragic Subject in Action:
Andrei Bely
Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev (, ; – 8 January 1934), better known by the pen name Andrei Bely or Biely, was a Russian novelist, Symbolist poet, theorist and literary critic. He was a committed anthroposophist and follower of Rudolf Steiner. Hi ...
Andrei Bely
Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev (, ; – 8 January 1934), better known by the pen name Andrei Bely or Biely, was a Russian novelist, Symbolist poet, theorist and literary critic. He was a committed anthroposophist and follower of Rudolf Steiner. Hi ...
Dictionary of Literary Biography
The ''Dictionary of Biography in literature, Literary Biography'' is a specialist biographical dictionary dedicated to literature. Published by Gale (Cengage), Gale, the 375-volume setRogers, 106. covers a wide variety of literary topics, periods ...
'', vol. 295 (Thomson/
Gale
A gale is a strong wind; the word is typically used as a descriptor in nautical contexts. The U.S. National Weather Service defines a gale as sustained surface wind moving at a speed between .
, 2004): 63–80, 369–376.
* ''The "
Eurasianist
Eurasianism ( ) is a socio-political movement in Russia that emerged in the early 20th century under the Russian Empire, which states that Russia does not belong in the "European" or "Asian" categories but instead to the geopolitical concept of E ...
Tendency" in the Music of the 1920s and 1930s'' («Evraziyskoe uklonenie» v muzyke 1920-kh -1930-kh godov). Moscow: Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie, 2005. 512 pp.
* ''
Sergei Prokofiev
Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''. , group=n ( – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor who l ...
Arseny Tarkovsky
Arseny Aleksandrovich Tarkovsky (; 27 May 1989) was a Soviet and Russian poet and translator. He was predeceased by his son, film director and screenwriter Andrei Tarkovsky.
Biography
Family
Tarkovsky was born on 25 June N.S. 1907 in Yelisav ...
'' in ''
Dictionary of Literary Biography
The ''Dictionary of Biography in literature, Literary Biography'' is a specialist biographical dictionary dedicated to literature. Published by Gale (Cengage), Gale, the 375-volume setRogers, 106. covers a wide variety of literary topics, periods ...
'', vol. 359 (
Gale
A gale is a strong wind; the word is typically used as a descriptor in nautical contexts. The U.S. National Weather Service defines a gale as sustained surface wind moving at a speed between .