Dmitry Glukhovsky

Dmitry A. Glukhovsky
Glukhovsky in 2011.
Born	Dmitry Alexeevich Glukhovsky (Дмитрий Алексеевич Глуховский) (1979-06-12) June 12, 1979
Occupation	Writer, Journalist, Radio host
Nationality	Russian
Alma mater	Hebrew University, Jerusalem
Genre	Sci-fi, Magic realism, Dystopia
Notable works	Metro 2033, Metro 2034

Dmitry A. Glukhovsky (Russian: Дми́трий Алексе́евич Глухо́вский, born June 12, 1979) is a Russian author^[1] and journalist known for Sci-Fi, Magic-Realism, and his exploration of social and political structures. He began writing his first novel, Metro 2033, at the age of 18, and then published it on his website in 2002, available for all to read for free. The novel has become an interactive experiment, drawing in over 3 million readers worldwide. It was published in print form in 2005 in Russia, and 2010 in Great Britain and the U.S. It has since been made into a video game for the Xbox 360 and PC. Most recently, it was optioned by MGM Studios.

Biography

Dmitry Glukhovsky was born and raised in Moscow, where he graduated from the school number 1231 in Arbat district, where he studied the French language. He received a university degree in Journalism and International Relations at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

From 2002 to 2005 he worked at the European information EuroNews TV channel in French Lyon, after which he returned to Russia and continued his career on television correspondents newly created Russia Today. Over three years he has traveled halfway around the world, was a "Kremlin pool", visited the Baikonur Cosmodrome, in the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, as well as at the North Pole, where in July 2007, he made the world's first direct telecast. Cooperation with the European media – the German radio station Deutsche Welle and the British television channel Sky News. From 2007 to 2009 he worked at Radio Mayak.

In 2007, It's Getting Darker was published, followed by Metro 2034 in 2009, Russia’s best-seller that year, also available free online, both as text and as a collaborative art-project with Russian electronic performer Dolphin and visual-artist Anton Gretchko. This was followed in 2010 by a series of satirical stories about Russia today – Stories about Motherland. As a journalist, Dmitry Glukhovsky has worked for EuroNews TV in France, Deutsche Welle and RT.

He writes columns for Harper’s Bazaar, l’Officiel and Playboy. Currently living in Moscow, Glukhovsky has lived in Israel, Germany and France. He speaks English, French, German, Armenian and Hebrew fluently, reads some Spanish, as well as his native language, Russian.

Books

Metro 2033

Metro 2033 tells the story of a young man named Artyom who goes a long way to save his world from mortal danger. The book describes the consequences of an atomic war. Its only survivors strive for existence in the mazes of the Moscow Metro some two decades after the nuclear Holocaust. Formally a sci-fi novel, Metro 2033 describes a dystopia, in which Russia’s present-day society is superficially analyzed and described. It also critically examines communism in the former Soviet Union and the rise of fascism in modern Russia.

It first appeared online in 2002 and has later become an interactive experiment, drawing in thousands of readers from around Russia. In 2005, it was printed by an established publisher and has become a nationwide bestseller.

In 2007, Glukhovsky was awarded the Encouragement Award of the European Science Fiction Society in the prestigious Eurocon contest in Copenhagen for his novel Metro 2033.

By 2009, over 400,000 copies of Metro 2033 have been sold in Russia alone. Online readers are five times as numerous. Foreign book rights have been sold to more than 20 countries. A first person shooter video game Metro 2033, developed by 4A Games and published by THQ was released worldwide in March 2010 for PC and Xbox 360 platforms. A film adaption is currently in the works and is set to be a joint venture by Michael De Luca and Solipsist Films, working off a screenplay by F Scott Frazier.^[2]

Metro 2034

Metro 2034, an indirect sequel to Metro 2033, has sold some 300,000 copies in just 6 months, making it Russia’s biggest local bestseller in 2009. The book has also been published online and is available at no charge on Metro 2034 Official Web Site, where over a million visitors have read the text. Glukhovsky has turned a book into an art-project, inviting famous Russian electronic performer Dolphin to write an original soundtrack for the novel, while artist Anton Gretchko worked on the oil-painted images gallery.^[3]

Metro 2035

Metro 2035 is the official sequel to Metro 2034. The book follows closely to Metro: Last Light, while covering the plot and dialogue between the characters even more deeply. The Russian version was released on 12 June 2015 while the Polish translated version was later released on 4 November 2015. In Serbia book was released on 15 July 2016. The English translated version will be released on 10 December 2016.

Dusk

The novel Dusk was published in 2007. It is a dark tale of the translator Dmitry who gets the order for a dozen pages cut out of what seems to be a several centuries-old Spanish book. He discovers that the book is a journal of an expedition of Conquerors dating back to the 16th century. Dmitry is reading this story chapter by chapter, collecting the full translation at home. Finally, the story starts penetrating his reality and threatening his life.^[4] "Dusk" was also an online experiment as Dmitry Glukhovsky was publishing it chapter by chapter in his blog.

Tales about the Motherland

In 2010, the AST publishing house released a new book by Glukhovsky – Tales about the Motherland. Tales about the Motherland is a compilation of satirical stories about Russian realities.^[4]

Futu.re

Released on 1 September 2013 in Russia. Futu.re is a dystopian novel, the action takes place in Europe in the XXV century where humanity has invented a way to stop aging. In order to keep Europe from overflowing, the government was forced to introduce a policy whereby if a couple decide to have a child either the mother or the father have to give up their immortality. The story is based around a young man who is part of a squad in charge of stopping the over-population of Europe by punishing those who do not register their child.

Video games

Metro 2033

Metro 2033 is a first-person shooter video game based on Glukhovsky's novel of the same name. 4A Games developed it in Ukraine and released it in March 2010 for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360. A PlayStation 3 version was planned but was ultimately canceled. Glukhovsky collaborated with 4A Games in the development of the game. While Glukhovsky did not write the game's story, it is based on his novel.

Metro: Last Light

Metro: Last Light is a video game that is considered a direct sequel to the game's story rather than the book, and was released in 2013. It is not based on Metro 2034, because the developers felt it was less fit for a game than the original book. Glukhovsky helped to write the story and dialogue for the game. He realised that the story he wrote for the game was too big, so instead he is planning to publish the whole story in a new book. The new book will be called Metro 2035.^[5]

Personal life

Glukhovsky is married and has a daughter.^[6]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dmitry Glukhovsky.

• Metro 2033 Official Web Site (Russian)
• Metro 2033 page on Orion (English)
• Metro 2033: The Last Refuge – info on the game (English)
• Metro 2034 Official Web Site (Russian)
• Dmitry Glukhovsky's blog
• Nibbe&Wiedling Literary Agency
• Interview with Glukhovsky (Spanish and English)
• Interview for Cosmopolitan Russia
• Interview for Komsomolskaya Pravda (Russian)
• Article in Russian Newsweek (Russian)