about myself

First and foremost, I am a poet. I read and write poetry. And I always crave more. I'm always stirring things up around me. Poetry readings, performances, collaborative projects and festivals. Even parties with friends don't go without poetry. It's the main way to talk about the world and myself and to interact with reality.

 

I was born in 1988 in the Chelyabinsk region of Russia, spent two years studying to be a radio and TV journalist at the university, then moved to Moscow to attend the Literary Institute. I became involved in the literary process and community, participated in many festivals, events, and projects. And gradually started organizing them myself. After the institute, I returned to Chelyabinsk and began organizing the literary community. It's something I'm good at and that benefits many people. Since 2023, I've been doing the same thing in Yerevan (Republic of Armenia).

 

Now, I need to tell you what I write about. It's always difficult. About the world - in my view, one of poetry's tasks is to capture reality at a specific moment. About culture and memory. About history and memory. About family and personal memory and experience. And, of course, about love and tenderness in their various forms.

 

I started writing at the age of 6, at 17 I began participating in regional and international poetry contests and festivals. I've been publishing in journals and anthologies since 2006. In 2009, I received the prestigious Russian youth award "LiteraturRRentgen." In 2019, my first book of poetry, "and here's about tenderness," was published by the Armchair Scientist publishing house in Yekaterinburg, Russia. That same year, in 2019, I launched my publishing project "one-eyed bandit" for poetic books with special artistic design. In this project, two of my books were published, "bestiarium" and "herbarium."

 

In 2016, my colleagues and I launched the "Poems About..." project in Chelyabinsk. These are regular (approximately monthly) meetings and poetry readings on a given topic. Anyone who wishes can participate, we read any poems from any time by any authors in any languages. The project quickly attracted not only poets but also many poetry enthusiasts (librarians, university professors, school teachers, artists, gallery owners and brewers). Meetings take place in various venues - pubs, museums, libraries, at various regional festivals, including the South Ural Book Fair. In 2024, we launched "Poems About..." in Yerevan.

 

Also in 2016, in Chelyabinsk, we began to curate the InVersia poetry program as part of the Debarcader contemporary art festival and did amazing things until it closed in 2020. We were interested in the various forms and ways of existence, creation, and dissemination of contemporary poetry. We did collective projects, anthologies, slams, synthetic projects with musicians, artists, font designers, photographers. We collaborated not only with cultural and educational institutions but also with charities. In 2020, our best project over the 5 years was the video anthology "The Walking Man. Stories of People with Cancer, Told by Poets."

 

I always want more poetry (mine and others'), more pleasant communication, collaboration, projects, festivals, human connections. That's why the world needs us.