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

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.
The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar

The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar

The fables of Ivan Krylov are rich fonts of Russian cultural wisdom and experience – reading and understanding them is vital to grasping the Russian worldview. This new edition of 62 of Krylov’s tales presents them side-by-side in English and Russian. The wonderfully lyrical translations by Lydia Razran Stone are accompanied by original, whimsical color illustrations by Katya Korobkina.
Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

This astonishingly gripping autobiography by the founder of the Russian Women’s Death Battallion in World War I is an eye-opening documentary of life before, during and after the Bolshevik Revolution.
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.
Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.
Survival Russian

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.
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.
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. 
The Samovar Murders

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
White Magic

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.
The Moscow Eccentric

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.

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