Yuriy Pavlovych Vynnychuk (; born 18 March 1952) is a Ukrainian journalist, writer and editor.

Biography

Educated in the

Vasyl Stefanyk Subcarpathian National University The Precarpathian National University (named after Vasyl Stefanyk, PNU, ) is a public research university in Ivano-Frankivsk. It is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in Western Ukraine. The history of the university dates ...

(formerly Ivano-Frankivsk Pedagogical Institute), Faculty of

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 ...

(1969–1973 years), a teacher of

Ukrainian language Ukrainian (, ) is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language, spoken primarily in Ukraine. It is the first language, first (native) language of a large majority of Ukrainians. Written Ukrainian uses the Ukrainian alphabet, a variant of t ...

and

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

. In 1974, he moved to the city and worked as a loader, graphic designers. 1987–1991 — director of Lviv Theatre of Variety, "Do not worry!". He was the author of the script for the play "Do not worry!" and song lyrics. In 1990, he had to leave the

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communi ...

and together with Stefka Orobets created "Cabarete Yurtsya and Steftsya". 1991–1994 — editor of mysticism and sensational newspaper "Post-Postup". 1995–1998 — chief editor of "Gulvіsa",

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

. 1998–1999 — editor of the newspaper "Postup". Since 2006 — chief editor of " Post-Postup" (restored). Member of the Association of Ukrainian Writers (1997).

Awards

Vynnychuk's novel ''Tango of Death'' was awarded the BBC Ukrainian Book of the Year for 2012. The novel is set in

, in the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

. The novel is marked with Vynnychuk's trademark fusion of

tragedy A tragedy is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a tragic hero, main character or cast of characters. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy is to invoke an accompanying catharsi ...

and

humor Humour ( Commonwealth English) or humor (American English) is the tendency of experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humoral medicine of the ancient Greeks, which taught that the balance of fluids i ...

. The award was Vynnychuk's second BBC Ukrainian Book of the Year. He won the inaugural award in 2005 for his novel ''Spring Games in Autumn Gardens''.

Political prosecution

On 23 January 2012, two police officers came to Vynnychuk's house and asked him to explain in writing about a poem he had recited a few months ago at the "A Night of Erotic Poetry" festival held in

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

. A complaint had been lodged with the

Prosecutor General Public Prosecutor General or Prosecutor General may refer to: * Prosecutor General of Lithuania * Prosecutors General of Azerbaijan * Prosecutor General (Albania) * Prosecutor General of Armenia * Prosecutor General of the Republic (Brazil) * Pros ...

Leonid Hrach Leonid Ivanovych Hrach (), also as Leonid Ivanovich Grach (), is a Soviet, Ukrainian, and Russian politician. Biography Hrach was born in a town of Brodetske, Vinnytsia Oblast on 1 January 1948. He was a chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Crimea ...

, a communist

People's Deputy of Ukraine A people's deputy of Ukraine (, ) is a member of parliament and legislator elected by Direct election, popular vote to the Verkhovna Rada, the parliament of Ukraine. They are often referred to simply as "deputies". Prior to 1991, the Verkhovna R ...

who accused the writer of reciting a pornographic poem and inciting revolt against the Ukrainian government.

Yuriy Vynnychuk's works translated in English

*''The Fantastic Worlds of Yuri Vynnychuk'' (collected short stories). Translated in English by Michael M. Naydan. (Glagoslav Publications, 2016) *''Tango of Death'' (novel). Translated from the Ukrainian by Michael M. Naydan and Olha Tytarenko. Translation edited by Ludmilla A. Trigos. (Spuyten Duyvil, 2019)

References

External links