★ From Yelizaryov, winner of the Russian Booker Prize and the National Bestseller Award!
★ After “Pasternak” in 2016, Yelizaryov returns with a major new novel after a six-year hiatus!
★ A “dark fairy tale for adults,” blending the absurd, the eerie, the suspenseful, and historical allegory, continuing the author’s signature blend of magical realism and social satire.
★ Critics often link Yelizaryov to the tradition of the absurd embodied by Gogol and Bulgakov, as his works excel at deconstructing social realities and historical myths through grotesque allegories.
★ Even before its publication, “The Canyon” has already attracted intense attention from the Russian literary community and is regarded as a landmark event in Russian-language literature in 2024!

“Canyon” is Mikhail Yelizaryov’s brand-new novel—a dark fairy tale for adults that blends absurd humor with eerie, suspenseful undertones. For this novel, Yelizaryov has also created a music album of the same name, continuing his cross-artistic practice of “literature + music” (similar to his earlier album created for the novel “The Librarian”).

The novel opens with an absurd scene in which a family waits for a “truck carrying sugar.” Through surreal imagery—such as a “resurrected” grandmother, relatives whose fingers are swollen and blackened, and an old Soviet hearse—the narrative paints a vivid picture in which collective trauma and historical memory intertwine. Described by the author himself as “a lament,” the novel may focus on the rupture of collective memory in the post-Soviet era, the repression of family secrets, and the hereditary transmission of trauma. The ritualized act of silently making the sign of the cross throughout the text suggests the inadequacy of language when confronted with historical pain. Critics often link Yelizaryov to the tradition of absurdity embodied by Gogol and Bulgakov, noting that his work excels at using grotesque allegories to deconstruct social realities and historical myths.

“It was just like our old courtyard, where a coffin containing Grandma Vera’s remains had been standing. Yet here she was, alive and well; her sister Lyudmila, Uncle Misha, and Grandpa Alexei were all safe and sound too. Everyone was gripped by anxiety, waiting for the truck carrying sugar to arrive. Grandma Vera reached out her hand, revealing her three swollen fingers. Uncle Misha’s fingers were the same: his thumb, index finger, and middle finger were all affected. Aunt Lyudmila’s and Grandpa Alexei’s fingers, too, had not escaped the fate of swelling. An old, rickety truck rolled up—a hearse that seemed to have emerged from primordial times, one of those commonly seen in the Soviet era—with sacks piled high in its cargo bed. Suddenly, the neighbors swarmed over, and everyone’s fingers were swollen like radishes! I couldn’t help but ask, ‘What on earth is going on?’ My relatives merely made the sign of the cross over their chests, remaining silent. I looked down at my own right hand: three of my fingers were already swollen and turning black. Joining the others, I too made a symbolic sign of the cross. By then, Uncle Misha had already hoisted a bag of sugar onto his shoulders and was staggering forward. ‘Canyon’ is no ordinary novel—it is a lament…” (Mikhail Yelizaryov)

Mikhail Yelizaryov
A writer and winner of the Russian Booker Prize. Mikhail Yelizaryov burst onto the literary scene at the turn of the 21st century and quickly rose to prominence in Russia thanks to his remarkable literary talent. Born in 1973 in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine, Yelizaryov graduated from the Philosophy Department of Kharkiv University and, since 1995, has been studying television directing at the Film School in Hanover, Germany. While living in Ukraine, Yelizaryov wrote poetry and engaged in literary creation and film production. All these experiences—ranging from the rich rural atmosphere of Ukraine to his years of study abroad—have provided him with indispensable life material and a solid foundation for his literary work.

In 2001, Yelizaryov published his debut work—a major collection titled “Nails” (Ногти)—marking his emergence on the literary scene and drawing the attention of literary critics. The collection comprises 24 short stories and a novella of the same name, “Nails,” which, owing to its magical realist elements, was shortlisted for the Andrei Bely Literary Prize. Literary critics have hailed Yelizaryov as the “new Gogol” of contemporary Russian literature.

It was Yelizaryov’s novel Pasternak (2003), imbued with a strong “anti-liberal” tone, that truly brought him wide literary acclaim. The book sparked intense debate within the Russian literary community, and the ensuing literary criticism and cultural discussions surrounding it can be seen as a subtle response to the nationalist currents that currently dominate Russian cultural and intellectual discourse. Through this, we can discern the differing attitudes within contemporary Russian literature toward historical memory and cultural heritage, as well as the deeper cultural tensions between nationalism and liberalism that underlie these debates.

Following Pasternak, Yelizaryov continued to produce works at an astonishing pace, publishing the short-story collection Red Film (Красная плёнка, 2005), the novel The Librarian, and the short-story collection Building Blocks (Кубики, 2008). These works garnered widespread attention in literary circles, establishing Yelizaryov as one of the leading figures among the “new generation” of Russian writers.

Even before publication, The Librarian was longlisted for both the National Bestseller Prize and the Big Book Prize! For this novel, Mikhail Yelizaryov won the most prestigious award in Russian literature—the Russian Booker Prize (the 17th Russian-language Booker Prize in 2008).

The Earth is Mikhail Yelizaryov’s latest work, published in 2019. The book was awarded the 2020 Russian National Bestseller Prize and made the longlist for the 2020 Big Book Prize (the shortlist was announced in June, with the final results revealed in December). Among his other notable works are the short-story collection Nails (shortlisted for the Andrei Bely Prize) and We Went Outside for a Smoke—and Never Came Back (won the Reader’s Choice Award at the New Literature Observer Prize).

Critics often compare Yelizaryov’s artistic style to that of the renowned postmodernist writer Vladimir Sorokin, noting striking similarities between their novels on many levels. In an article published in Vedomosti, critic Anna Narinskaya points out that, in terms of the creative passion so highly valued in contemporary Russian literature, Yelizaryov has already surpassed Sorokin, one of the leading representatives of the “new forty-year-old writers.” Unlike the idealistic approach of earlier generations of writers, Yelizaryov blurs the boundaries between the serious and the popular, the solemn and the comic, the real and the fantastical—but through the very fabric of his prose, readers can still clearly sense the author’s genuine sincerity.