Kryukova (Blagova) Elena Nikolaevna (born 1956) — poet, prose writer, novelist, cultural scholar, and art critic. Lives in Nizhny Novgorod.[1][2] Author of poetry collections and novels. Her literary interests encompass war and religion, pressing issues of contemporary society, youth and revolution, and the archetypes of the temple and ancient symbols. Her best-known novels are Yurodivaya, The Shadow of the Arrow, The Empire of Ch, Expulsion from Paradise, Winter War, and Night Carnival.

Biography

Elena Kryukova was born in Samara[3], on the Volga. In 1980 she graduated from the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory with a specialization in piano and organ, and in 1989 she completed the poetry department of the Gorky Literary Institute (Moscow), in Anatoly Zhigulin's seminar.[3] She has been a member of the Union of Writers of Russia since 1991.[1]

She performed as a pianist and organist.[4] She worked at the Nizhny Novgorod Conservatory, at the Irkutsk Opera Theatre, and at the Center for Organ Art in Moscow. She gave concerts in cities across Siberia, in Kyiv, in the Baltic countries, and in France. She edited books and journals at Moscow publishing houses. For a number of years she has been involved in exhibitions as a curator and art critic, contributing numerous art criticism articles and publications to various outlets ranging from newspapers to catalogues.

At a theatre seminar in 1994, Roman Viktyuk singled out her monodrama Mother. Liturgy of the Faithful as one of the finest works presented in the course of the seminar (published in the book Blood of the Polish Kings).

Throughout the 1990s she published selections of poetry in major literary and arts journals of Russia: Novy Mir (1989, 1993); Druzhba Narodov (1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999); Znamya (Liturgy of the Catechumens, 1993; Vertep, 1998); Sotsium (grand prize "Sotsium-press", 1995); Neva, Moskva, Yunost, Predlog (Walking on Water, 1999), and other central publications — some one hundred publications in all.[5] She served as curator of major art exhibitions in France and America (together with A. Gleizer, 1998–2001). She organized the exhibition "Polygraphics. The Imprint of Time," dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the GIPP "Nizhpoligraf" printing house (Nizhny Novgorod, 2002).

Awards and Honors

  • Two first literary prizes named after Boris Kornilov (Nizhny Novgorod, 1990s).[4]
  • First prize in the "Literature" category for narrative-documentary prose — a novella about the Bach family (weekly Semya, Moscow, 1995).
  • Prize of the Union of Writers of Russia (1995).[4]
  • Nizhny Novgorod Prize for the poetry collection "The Creation of the World" (1998).[4][2]
  • Finalist of the literary prizes "Yasnaya Polyana" (2004) and "Karamzin Cross" (2009).[6][1]
  • Laureate of the "Согласование культур" ("Reconciliation of Cultures") prize (Germany, 2009).[6]
  • Laureate of the M. I. Tsvetaeva Prize (2010).[6][1]
  • Long-listed for the Russian Booker Prize (2010) and the Bunin Prize (2010).[6]

Art Projects

Author and curator of a number of art projects in Russia and abroad: "Heavenly Chariot" (France, 1995); "Queen of the Night Ai-Kagan" (France, 2005); "Archetype" (Russia, 2006); "Symbols of the Earth" (Germany, 2006); "Anesthesia" (Russia, 2007); "Valley of the Kings" (Russia, 2008), and others. Curator of the International Cultural Movement "East–West" (since 2004).[4] Director of the Russian-American cultural community "Fermata" (since 2008).[1]

Recent literary projects include the "Novel-Cinema" series ("Empire of Ch", "Winter War", "Red Moon", 2007), "Shadow of the Arrow" (2009), and "World of the Blessed" ("The Holy Fool", "Royal Doors", "The Yarmarka", 2009).

Books

Poetry collections: "The Bell" (Volgo-Vyatka Book Publishing House, 1986); "The Dome" (Volgo-Vyatka Book Publishing House, 1990); "The Creation of the World" (Nizhpoligraf Publishing House, 1998).[4] The poetry and prose collection "Blood of the Polish Kings" (Moscow, Valon-V, 1993).[4] The poetry collection "Garden of Paradise" has been published abroad.

Novels: "Gold" (Moscow, Labirint-Press, 2001)[4]; "The Holy Fool" (journal "Nizhny Novgorod", no. 3, 2001; separate edition — "Dyatlov Hills", Nizhny Novgorod); "Expulsion from Paradise", "The Iron Tulip", "Wine Festival", "The Mask", "Ship of the Doomed", "Bloody Palette", "Night Carnival" (Tsentrpoligraf Publishing House, 2002); "Argentine Tango" (Tsentrpoligraf Publishing House, 2003)[4]; "Red Moon" ("Dyatlov Hills", Nizhny Novgorod); "Winter War" ("Dyatlov Hills", Nizhny Novgorod); "Leo Constellation" ("Bikar", Nizhny Novgorod — a children's book of poetry and prose, illustrated by Nizhny Novgorod artist Svetlana Ushakova).[1]

  • "The Shadow of the Arrow" ("Veche", Moscow)[1] — a historical novel about the Civil War in southern Siberia and Mongolia, about Baron Ungern and his Asian Division; an attempt to create a sweeping epic canvas about people of a dramatic era.
  • "A Journey with Casanova" ("Podvig", Moscow)[1] — a playful novel set in the life of Empress Catherine the Second; the plot is based on Catherine's and Prince Potemkin's journey to Crimea in 1787; in Crimea, Catherine and her Ethiopian lady-in-waiting Salome are abducted by Giacomo Casanova, and together they sail by ship across the Mediterranean Sea to Venice.
  • "Ovid's Notebook" (in the almanac "At the Level of Love", SFU, Krasnoyarsk) — a collection of poems about love; the image of the great Roman poet Ovid, who died in exile in snowy Scythia, is the central "melody" of the book.
  • "The Constellation of Leo" ("Bikar", Nizhny Novgorod) — a children's book: a grandfather and grandson travel through outer space, visit mysterious planets, and encounter representatives of an alien civilization from a star in the constellation Leo.

Hobbies

Singing (old Russian and émigré romances, Russian folk songs), mushroom and berry picking (in summer), painting (in winter).

Contact

See also

Sources

  1. lib-avt.ru — CBS of Avtozavodsky District of Nizhny Novgorod — "Kryukova Elena Nikolayevna" (section "Autograph for Remembrance"), accessed 16.09.2026
  2. names52.ru — Nizhny Novgorod Biographical Encyclopedia — "Kryukova Elena Nikolayevna", accessed 16.09.2026 (archive)
  3. zhurnalnyimir.rf — author page "Kryukova Elena" (Nizhny Novgorod), accessed 16.09.2026 (archive)
  4. litkarta.ru — New Map of Russian Literature — "Elena Kryukova", biography and bibliography, accessed 16.09.2026 (archive)
  5. jurnalnn.ru — Journal "Nizhny Novgorod" — author page "Kryukova Elena", accessed 16.09.2026 (archive)
  6. books.vremya.ru — Vremya Publishing House — "Kryukova Elena Nikolayevna", about the author, accessed 16.09.2026 (archive)