Yuriy Ihorovych Andrukhovych is a Ukrainian poet, prose writer, translator, representative of postmodernism in literature, essayist.
Place of Birth, Education
He was born on March 13, 1960 in Stanislav, Ivano-Frankivsk region.
He studied at a specialized school No. 5 with in-depth study of the German language.
In 1982 he graduated from the editorial department of the Ukrainian Polygraphic Institute in Lviv, and in 1991 – the Higher Literary Courses at the Maxim Gorky Literary Institute in Moscow.
Career
At one time, he worked as a newspaperman and served in the military.
From 1991 to 1995 he headed the poetry department of the Ivano-Frankivsk magazine “Pereval”.
In 1985, he was one of the co-founders of the poetry group “Bu-Ba-Bu”, which revived carnival and buffoonery traditions in Ukrainian literature.
Andrukhovych is also considered one of the founders of the postmodern trend – the “Stanislav phenomenon”.
In particular, in the late 1980s, he was an active figure in the newly created People’s Movement of Ukraine.
Since 1991, he worked as a co-editor of the literary and art magazine “Thursday”. He also collaborated with the magazine “Pereval” and was the compiler of two of its issues.
Creativity
Since 1991, Andrukhovych began to actively publish in Ukrainian literary magazines.
He is the author of the poetry collections “Sky and Squares”, “Downtown”, “Exotic Birds and Plants”, “Songs for the Dead Rooster”, as well as the novels “Recreations”, “Moscoviada”, “Perversion”, “Twelve Hoops” and “Secret. Instead of a Novel” and not a Mystery.
In 1991-1996, together with the prose writer Yuriy Izdryk, he published the magazine “Chetver”. In particular, he was the editor-in-chief of the almanac “Train 76” and led the column “Park of Culture” in the newspaper “Day”.
In 1989, Andrukhovych became a member of the Writers’ Union of Ukraine, but in 1991 he left it together with several colleagues. Later, he joined the creation of the Association of Ukrainian Writers, and in 1997-1999 he was its vice-president.
In 1994, he defended his Ph.D. thesis on the work of Bohdan-Ihor Antonych.
Three years later, in 1997, 4 books by Andrukhovych were published in separate editions in Ukraine, including poetry, prose and essays.
The poet also worked on the publication of the “Small Ukrainian Encyclopedia of Actual Literature”.
In 2000, he published his own translation of William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” into Ukrainian, and in 2006 he published an anthology of translations of American poetry “The Day of Mrs. Day’s Death”.
Andrukhovych’s works have been translated into many languages, including English, German, French, Polish, Spanish, and Czech.
The poet is a laureate of a number of literary awards. Among them are the Blagovest Prize in 1993, the Ray Lapika Prize in 1996 and the Herder International Prize in 2001.
In 2005, he also received a special prize named after Erich Maria Remarque, and in 2006 – the award “For European Understanding”.
Community Service
Andrukhovych supports the European integration of Ukraine and participates in public initiatives.
In January 2010, together with Andriy Bondar, Serhiy Zhadan and Les Podervyansky, he advocated the abolition of the law “On the Protection of Public Morality”.
On December 8, 2013, during the People’s Council, he read out “Appeal 5/12” from the art community to the authorities and the opposition.
He also advocated the release from Russian prison of illegally convicted Ukrainian director Oleg Sentsov.
On November 9, 2021, Andrukhovych read the Radio Dictation of National Unity.
Marital Status
He is married to Nina Nikolaevna.
The couple has 2 children – daughter Sofia and son Taras.
