Guzel Yakhina

Guzel Shamilyevna Yakhina (Russian: Гузель Шамильевна Яхина, Tatar: Cyrillic Гүзәл Шамил кызы Яхина, Latin Güzäl Şamil qızı Yaxina, born 1 June 1977, Kazan) is a Russian author and screenwriter. She is a winner of the Big Book literary prize and the Yasnaya Polyana Literary Award.

Guzel Shamilevna Yakhina
Guzel Yakhina, 2015
Born1 June 1977
Kazan
LanguageRussian
Notable awards

Biography

Guzel Shamilevna Yakhina was born in Kazan.[1] Her mother is a doctor, while her father is an engineer. She spoke Tatar at home and learned Russian only after she started going to daycare.[2]

She studied at the Department of Foreign Languages in the Tatar State University of Humanities and Education. In 1999, she moved to Moscow. In 2015, she graduated from the Moscow School of Film with a degree in screenwriting.[3]

Career

Yakhina worked in public relations and advertising. She began her writing career with publications in the journals Neva and Oktyabr. Sections of her debut novel Zuleikha appeared in the journal Siberian Fires.

Yakhina's debut novel is based on the experiences of her grandmother, a Tatar. In the 1930s, as part of dekulakization programme, the Soviets forcefully relocated many Tatars from the European part of Russia to Siberia. Yakhina's grandmother was among them. She was exiled at a young age and was able to return home only sixteen years later. The novel describes the experiences of Zuleikha, a peasant Tatar woman. Her husband resisted dekulakization and was killed. Zuleikha was transported to Siberia and left in a remote location on Angara River with little means of survival. Zuleikha had to overcome the harsh conditions, build relationships with other exiles and forge her new identity and reasons for living.[1] Yakhina initially wrote the draft as a screenplay, and later rewrote it as a novel.[4] Before being accepted for publication, the novel was rejected by multiple publishers.[5]

Works

Short stories
  • "Мотылек". Neva (2). 2014.
  • "Винтовка". Oktyabr (5). 2015.

Screenplays
  • Подарок (Gift), 2016[6]

Novels
  • Зулейха открывает глаза. Moscow: АСТ. 2015. ISBN 978-5-17-090436-5.,

translated into English by Lisa C. Hayden as Zuleikha. London: OneWorld. 2019. ISBN 9781786073495.

  • Дети мои. Moscow: АСТ. 2019. ISBN 978-5-17-107766-2.

Awards

References
  1. Alexandra Guzeva (December 12, 2015). "3 major Russian books of 2015". Russia Beyond The Headlines. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  2. Jean-Félix de la Ville Baugé (September 9, 2015). "Guzel Yakhina : " La rencontre de mes deux héros est la rencontre de deux âmes nues "". Le Courrier de Russie (in French). Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  3. "Rustam Minnikhanov met with writer Guzel Yakhina" (Press release). Press Service of the President of the Republic of Tatarstan. December 25, 2015. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  4. Natalia Kochetkova (December 14, 2015). "Ходил слух, что докторам приказано отравить детей" (in Russian). Lenta.ru. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  5. Alena Solntseva (December 6, 2015). "Дело рук самих начинающих". The New Times (in Russian). Retrieved May 31, 2018.
  6. "Лауреат "Большой книги" Гузель Яхина победила на конкурсе сценариев" (in Russian). RIA News. February 16, 2016. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  7. "Big Book Prize". Britannica. March 17, 2016. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  8. Adelia Galieva (September 12, 2015). "Kazan authors Bulat Ibrahim and Guzel Yakhina became the winners of the International Literary Prize". The City of Kazan. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  9. "Les prix littéraires 2017 – La récap – Ballade au fil de …". www.cathjack.ch.
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