© Kucky
Boris Khersonsky [Ukraine]
Boris Khersonsky was born in 1950 in Chernivtsi, Ukraine and studied medicine in Ivano-Frankivsk and Odesa. He initially worked as a neurologist before becoming a psychologist and psychiatrist at the state hospital in Odesa. In 1996, Khersonsky took on an appointment at the department of psychology at Odesa National University, before becoming chair of the department of clinical psychology in 1999. In addition to writing scientific articles on topics such as depth psychology and the use of psychoprophylaxis in family conflicts, Khersonsky also continued a literary family tradition begun by his grandfather, a pediatric neurologist who wrote satirical verses under the pseudonym »Ro«, and continued by his father, Grigorij Khersonsky, who published books of poetry in 1949 and 2004.
Khersonsky published his first poems while still at university. Before and during the Perestroika movement, he was part of Samizdat, which disseminated alternative, nonconformist literature via unofficial channels. His works were published by both Odesa’s municipal press and in international literary journals and anthologies. Khersonsky’s formal literary debut came in 1993 with »Vos’ma častka« (tr. The Eighth Part). Four years later, he published »Semejnyj Archiv«, a story in poem form that appeared in German in 2010 as »Familienarchiv« (Eng. »Family Archive« 2006). The author tells the story of a Russian-Jewish family against a backdrop of the tragedies of the 20th century. A critique in the magazine »Falter« compared Khersonsky’s work with the verse novel »Eugene Onegin« (1825) by the Russian writer Alexander Puschkin: »[His] unrhymed verses sometimes go into the smallest detail of everyday life, then widen to philosophical reflections of aphoristic brevity.« The influence of Khersonsky’s training as a psychologist is evident not only in his clear, poetic diagnoses, but also in his primary focus on people. Numerous other publications were followed by the 2014 volume of poetry »Missa in tempore belli/Messa vo vremena vojny« (tr. Mass in Times of War), in which Khersonsky describes his impressions of the Maidan revolution. It was followed a year later by »Otkrytyj dnevnyk«, a public diary about the Ukraine crisis that focuses particularly on Odesa. In February 2015, Khersonsky stated in an interview that he would leave Odesa if the city were to be occupied. On the evening of the very same day, there was a terrorist attack right outside his house. Most recently, he published »Odesskaja intelligencija« (2018; tr: The Intellectuals of Odesa), a collection that declares his love to the port city and its thinkers and poets.
His literary work has won Khersonsky much recognition, including being named laureate of the Kievskie lavry Festival Prize (2008) and being awarded the Jury Special Prize at the Literaris Festival for East European Literature (2010).
Khersonsky lives in Odesa.
Bibliography
Семейный архив
Новое литературное обозрение,
2006
Площадка под застройку
Новое литературное обозрение
Москва, 2008
Вне ограды
Наука
Москва, 2008
Мраморный лист
Арго-риск
Москва, 2009
Спиричуэлс
Новое литературное обозрение
Москва, 2009
Пока не стемнело
Новое литературное обозрение
Москва, 2010
Пока еще кто-то
Спадщина-Інтеграл
Київ, 2012
Кладезь безумия
Спадщина- Інтеграл
Київ, 2012
Кабы не радуга
Фоліо
Харків, 2015
Открытый дневник
Дух і Літера
Київ, 2015
Клаптикова Ковдра
Дух і Лутера
Київ, 2016
Вклонитися дереву
Видавництво Старого Лева
Львів, 2019