The diversity and versatility of modern Ukrainian literature is simply amazing. Among the authors you can find both people who write in traditional genres and inventors of something new, unusual and bright. As they say, writers adapt to modernity, and many fans answer them with love and appreciate what they create. And one of the most prominent representatives of modern Ukrainian literature, of course, is Sergey Zhadan. His works are translated into twelve different languages.
Sergey Zhadan: biography
A writer, prose writer and poet of our time was born in the driver’s family, in the Luhansk region in the city of Starobelsk. Sergey Viktorovich was born on August 23, 1974. In his native city, he graduated from school, found his first friends and gained experience, thanks to which he continued his life's journey. In the early nineties he was a distributor of national newspapers and symbols. At that time, he still did not speak pure Ukrainian, but often switched to Russian in conversation.
After school years, he went to Kharkov, where he received higher education at the Pedagogical University. Thus, in 1996, another graduate specialist appeared in Ukraine, who graduated from the faculty of Ukrainian-German philology. Over the next three years, Zhadan studied at the graduate school of the same university. The theme of his dissertation was Ukrainian futurism.
Teaching activities
After graduating from graduate school, Sergey Zhadan becomes a teacher in the department of literature in the same institution. At that time he was engaged in translations from Belarusian, Russian and German languages. He worked until 2004, at which he completed his teaching career, becoming a fully independent writer.
Poetic activity
In parallel, he was already printing his works. His very first poetic assembly was published in 1993, and it was called “Pink Degenerate”. In 1998, he won the Verse of the Year Prize at the Bu-Ba-Bu Literary Association. Since 2000, he is vice president of the Association of Ukrainian Writers. Criticism acknowledged that the leader of the poetic generation of the end of the last century is precisely Sergei Zhadan. The biography and work of this person begin to interest not only domestic readers, but also many foreign connoisseurs of literary work. At the moment, he has released thirteen poetry collections, the last of which is called “Dream Life”, he appeared on bookshelves in 2015.
Cultural activities
Over time, his works began to be translated into various languages, including: English, Polish, German, Armenian, Serbian, Lithuanian, Croatian, Belarusian and Russian. During his life, he organized many art and cultural events, exhibitions, he has performed more than one rock concert.
He also organized many festivals, carried out more than one publishing project and much more. In general, the public life of Sergei Zhadan is very eventful and full of events. In 2014, he even played a cameo role in the film "Guide".
Musical activity
Since 2008, Sergey Zhadan has been actively collaborating with the rock band "Dogs in Space", playing in the style of ethno-ska. By the way, it was thanks to Sergey that the group got its popularity. Since then, they have created many collaborative compositions using poetry by the writer.
At the moment, the most significant of them has become a musical album called “Weapons of the proletariat”. Now gaining popularity album, released in conjunction with Zhadan in 2014, entitled "Fight for her." In addition, there is an audiobook called “Depeche Mode” based on the famous novel by Sergey.
Prose
At the moment, there are eleven works of prose written by Sergei Zhadan. Among them are full-fledged novels and storybooks. The most famous and popular of them is a book called Anarchy in the UKR. Critics still cannot decide whether it is agitation, scientific research, or fiction. This book was published in 2005 and to this day is one of the best-selling works of the writer. In addition, Sergei participated in the creation of six collections of works by other authors.
Sergey Zhadan: photos and personal life
Sergey Viktorovich was twice married. The first wife is Svetlana Oleshko, with her he has a thirteen-year-old son, Vanya. She works in the Kharkov theater as a director. The second wife's name is Irina Kunitsyna, she is seven years younger than Sergei and works at the Folio agency as a distributor of his books. The wedding took place in 2009, before which they had cohabited for three years. The wedding was not advertised in the press in advance, and there was no serious celebration about this. Despite this, many photos and videos of the writer's personal life delight fans and connoisseurs of his work.
Political activity
In addition to participating in the distribution of political newspapers in the nineties, Zhadan takes an active part in the political upheaval of the country. For example, during the Orange Revolution, he was a commandant on the side of Yushchenko in Kharkov. And in 2011, he became the organizer of an action against the adoption of the law "On the Protection of Public Morality." During Euromaidan, he also showed active participation in Kharkov. Among other things, his quotes and speeches regarding the political and social situation in the country are quite popular, despite the fact that they often do not sound completely censored. At the moment, he continues to work and live in Kharkov.