January 14, 2016

Russian Life Book Receives National Award


Russian Life Book Receives National Award

Russian Life's book, Moscow and Muscovites, by Vladimir Gilyarovsky, translated into English by Brendan Kiernan, received the 2015 AATSEEL Award for Best Scholarly Translation into English.

Over 35 other notable books – including works by Pushkin, Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Mayakovsky and Bulgakov – many of them from much larger publishers, were in the running for this prestigious award. In announcing the honor, AATSEEL President Kevin M.F. Platt said:

"Brendan Kiernan's translation of Gilyarovsky's book is truly a labor of love, with painstaking attention to detail and lucid, lively, smoothly flowing style, expertly rendering Gilyarovsky's prose that has captivated generations of Russian-language readers. Admirably, Kiernan spares no effort in rendering the voices of ordinary Muscovites that appear in the pages of Gilyarovsky's book — a feature of the work that acquires particular relevance in the context of this year's award of the Nobel Prize to Svetlana Alexievich... Moscow and Muscovites is an invaluable resource for a broad audience, from students to senior scholars. Kiernan's deft translation fills an important lacuna in the sources on Russian cultural history."

"We are very excited about this award," said Publisher Paul E. Richardson. "I have dreamed of bringing this book into English for 25 years. It is a beloved classic in Russia, yet it had never been translated – perhaps because it was so difficult. Brendan shared our vision of the importance of the project, and Moscow's Institute of Literary Translation provided generous grant support. Brendan dug deep into the historical, cultural, and linguistic minutia of the work and produced not just a faithful translation, but a fine work of literature. And, given what it means to be a journalist in Russia today, it is great to see the grandfather of Russian journalism get some recognition."

First published in 1926, Moscow and Muscovites is an expansive, masterful work of ethnography and micro-history. Gilyarovsky loved investigating the rich underbelly of life in the capital and his stories brim with colorful characters and forgotten histories. His memoir is a vivid portrait of what life was like in Moscow, and Russia more generally, before the Bolshevik Revolution. Yet the book also offers incomparable insights into what makes Russia, and Russians, tick.

Russian Life was founded in 1990 and publishes periodicals, fiction, nonfiction, maps and other items of interest to Russophiles the world over. Its translation of Ilf & Petrov's The Little Golden Calf, translated by Anne O. Fisher, won the 2010 AATSEEL Prize for Best Literary Translation.


About the Author: Vladimir Gilyarovsky (1853-1935) was an adventurer, raconteur, poet, actor, gourmand, and an indefatigable journalist. Indeed, Russians (who call him, affectionately, "Uncle Gilya") consider him the grandfather of Russian journalism.

About the Translator: Brendan Kiernan is a freelance translator and political analyst. A student of Russian language and literature since 1977, he earned his bachelor's from Williams College and his PhD (in Political Science) from Indiana University, Bloomington, as well as an area studies certificate from IU's Russian and East European Institute. He is the author of The End of Soviet Politics (Westview) and is currently finishing his translation of Andrei Bely's forgotten masterpiece, The Moscow Eccentric, to be published by Russian Life Books in 2016.

About the Prize: The American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages (AATSEEL), founded in 1941, exists to advance the study and promote the teaching of Slavic and East European languages, literatures, and cultures on all educational levels, elementary through graduate school. AATSEEL awards prizes to outstanding publications in the fields of 1) language pedagogy, 2) linguistics, 3) literary and/or cultural scholarship, and 4) translations into English. Nominees for the translation prize are book-length translations of a literary work, an epistolary genre (letters, memoirs, essays, etc.), or a scholarly work.

You Might Also Like

Moscow and Muscovites
  • November 26, 2013

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Fearful Majesty

Fearful Majesty

This acclaimed biography of one of Russia’s most important and tyrannical rulers is not only a rich, readable biography, it is also surprisingly timely, revealing how many of the issues Russia faces today have their roots in Ivan’s reign.
22 Russian Crosswords

22 Russian Crosswords

Test your knowledge of the Russian language, Russian history and society with these 22 challenging puzzles taken from the pages of Russian Life magazine. Most all the clues are in English, but you must fill in the answers in Russian. If you get stumped, of course all the puzzles have answers printed at the back of the book.
A Taste of Chekhov

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.
Moscow and Muscovites

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 
Marooned in Moscow

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.
At the Circus

At the Circus

This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.
Fish: A History of One Migration

Fish: A History of One Migration

This mesmerizing novel from one of Russia’s most important modern authors traces the life journey of a selfless Russian everywoman. In the wake of the Soviet breakup, inexorable forces drag Vera across the breadth of the Russian empire. Facing a relentless onslaught of human and social trials, she swims against the current of life, countering adversity and pain with compassion and hope, in many ways personifying Mother Russia’s torment and resilience amid the Soviet disintegration.
Murder at the Dacha

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.
The Latchkey Murders

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955