Svetlana Aleksievich

After studying journalism, Svetlana Aleksievich began her career as a journalist, publishing two books on World War II that provoked a controversy in her country. Her book on the war in Afghanistan, »Zinky Boys: Soviet Voices from the Afghanistan War« was subject to attacks from the communist and military press, who would not forgive her for unveiling the myth of the glorious Soviet army. Her last book entitled, »Voices from Chernobyl: Chronicle of the Future« is a stirring account of life after Chernobyl written from the hundreds of interviews she made with the witnesses and victims of the tragedy. Since October 2002, Svetlana Aleksievich has lived in France where she will spend two years, thanks to a grant from the Parlement des écrivains, an endowment which was in part instigated by urbanist-philosopher Paul Virilio and sociologist Pierre Bourdieu.

Selected Bibliography:

• »Voices from Chernobyl: Chronicle of the Future«, Aurum Press, London, 1999
• »Zinky Boys: Soviet Voices from the Afghanistan War«, W.W.Norton and Company Editions, New York, 1992

[2003]