8 bright debut novels by contemporary young authors
Miscellaneous / / June 13, 2023
Stories about the search for a father, a difficult life with mental disorders, personal and historical memory, and more.
1. “Like me”, Islam Khanipaev
Islam Khanipaev appeared in the literary field quite recently, and has already become a laureate of the Lyceum Prize (2021), a finalist NOS, National Bestseller and Book of the Year awards and the winner of the Readers' Choice nomination of the Yasnaya Polyana award (2022).
The debut novel by the Makhachkala writer is addressed to adults, but children also love the text. Eight-year-old Arthur is in high school, befriends imaginary super-cool warrior Ali, and is looking for a father he's never met. This, apart from jokes, sunnyly kind and ironic story is not a guide to Dagestan at all. It energetically and witty shows the diversity of modern Russian-language prose and recalls the multiculturalism of a vast country.
Buy a book2. Valsarb, Helena Pobarzhina
Helena Pobyarzhina is a poet and translator from Belarus. The story of Valsarba itself is worthy of publication. The manuscript of an unknown author came by chance, and already in the first months after publication, the text got into the reviews of influential critics and long lists of prestigious literary awards.
This is a book about the return of names: a girl living in the border town of Braslav in the late 1980s sees dead people. During the Holocaust, thousands of civilians died here. Some come to the heroine to tell her their stories. Among the visitors is a real character whose fate has not yet been clarified. But this is just one of the layers. "Valsarb" - a tender and poetic story growing up at the turn of the eras.
Buy a book3. "Nest of the Tit" by Roma Decabrev
Engineer Roma Decabrev assures that he had no intention of becoming an author of intellectual prose. But when his debut novel, The Tit's Nest, came out, the web was flooded with reviews that repeated bits and pieces of postmodern code: "romantic dual world", "hermeneutic circle", "death of a writer" and even "dead inside". The author himself, smiling subtly at presentations and interviews, claims that all this is an illusion, there are no hardcore writers, and "The Bird's Nest" is a hoax novel at all, a game of imagination and post-meta-irony.
The protagonist of the text is haunted by an obsessive image from childhood, which he builds into a mosaic of false and true memories, living not linear, but closed, like a Möbius strip, a life full of illusions. This is a metaphor for creativity 300 pages long - it is impossible to explain or tear yourself away while reading.
Buy a book4. "Single", Margarita Ronzhina
A debutante from Yekaterinburg, Margarita Ronzhina, actively participates in forums for young authors and writers' residences, and publishes in thick magazines. Filled with references to myths and allusions to modern literature, her psychological novel The Loner addresses issues that are purely prosaic and painfully acute: postpartum depression, solo motherhood, life with a special child, total loneliness, inner freedom and the ability to understand in time when there is no point to hold on relationship.
Buy a book5. "Father looks to the West", Ekaterina Manoilo
Ekaterina Manoilo is the winner of the sixth season of the Lyceum Award in the Prose and Book Bloggers Choice nominations. Her debut Father Looks West is a confrontation novel. A small but dense text tells about eternal dichotomies: East - West, fathers - children, women - men, traditions - trends, leave - stay. This is both an exciting mystical novel and a psychological prose about growing up and accepting oneself.
Buy a book6. "Invasion", Margo Gritt
Margo Gritt is a writer, film and television director, finalist for the Lyceum Award, honored with a special Book Bloggers Choice Award (2022). Her collection of short fiction is an accurate, sharp and sometimes harsh statement of a modern young author.
Dislike invades the lives of heroes in the same way as all five stages of inner maturation. But in the case of Gritt, no one walks in a vicious circle of "anger - bargaining - denial - depression - acceptance", each stage is a level in the quest. This book does not question eternal values, but it makes you think: do we accept certain rules because it is important for us or for someone else?
Buy a book7. "Sato", Rahim Jafarov
Rahim Jafarov is a laureate of the "New Horizons" award (2021) and the winner of the "People's Choice Award" of the "NOS" award (2020), a finalist of the "Lyceum" award (2023). His charming debut "Sato" has already been filmed and continues to cause controversy: what is it really - a psychological novel about dissociative disorder personality or fantasy thriller.
Preschooler Kostya claims that he is Rear Admiral Sato, commander-in-chief of the punitive corps. Everything would be fine, but the five-year-old is caustic, precise in wording and masterfully manipulates peers and adults. He also hates healthy eating and the humiliating need to wear pantyhose to kindergarten.
Buy a book8. “It is not curable”, Anna Lukiyanova
A young author from St. Petersburg, Anna Lukiyanova, wrote a novel of growing up and made the main character's obsessive-compulsive disorder one of the central, but not the only theme.
Anya lives in a strict system of rules and obligations that cannot be violated, otherwise disaster will happen. She has taken responsibility for everyone around her, and this burden cannot be shaken off. Meanwhile, in Anina's complex life, high school graduation class, and with it the first loves and the first vital decisions. And the future looks like the spire of the Ostankino Tower, piercing the unfriendly cloudy Moscow sky.
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