Evgeniy Klyuev

Yevgeny Klyuev is a poet, prose writer, playwright, translator, scholar-linguist, PhD, and teacher—a phenomenal figure in Russian literature. His fairy tales are included in school textbooks; grateful readers set his poems to music and constantly quote them on social media; and his sparkling book Between Two Chairs, which has been reissued seven times, is called a cult classic. Klyuev’s books differ from one another in form and content; the only thing they have in common is an atmosphere that encourages open, trusting communication while still ruling out undue familiarity. The writer has managed to preserve a sincere interest in what he writes about. Keeping away from the literary scene and working in Denmark in social services and teaching Danish at the Linguistic Center, Klyuev continues to receive ovations—from readers of all ages—and, most importantly, continues to write. And to play: with his characters, with the reader, with himself, with words.

Biography

Born in 1954 in Kalinin (now Tver).

Graduated from Tver State University with a degree in Russian language and literature; later completed postgraduate studies at the Faculty of Journalism of Moscow State University, specializing in linguistic pragmatics.

In 1990–1991, he was editor-in-chief of the Literature supplement to the newspaper 1 September; in 1992–1993, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Mission; and in 1993–1996, dean of the Faculty of Journalism at URAO—the University of the Russian Academy of Education.

Since 1996, he has lived in Denmark, where he moved to continue his research and work on issues of language policy, but he has never lost contact with Russia and continues to publish fiction, scholarly, and journalistic texts in his homeland—mainly in the capital’s periodicals and publishing houses.

From an interview: “A linguistic research project came up; it was planned for three years, and I went to Denmark to take part in it. Then everything somehow worked out on its own, and, speaking in computer language, I simply froze in Denmark. And it ended with my becoming a citizen of that country