Boris Ryzhy


Boris Borisovich Ryzhy, or Ryzhii, was a Russian poet and geologist. Some poems by Ryzhy have been translated into English, Italian, German, Dutch and Serbian. He committed suicide on May 7, 2001, at the age of 26. He was born and died in Yekaterinburg.
At the time of his death, Ryzhy's reputation had burgeoned and he was starting to receive recognition as one of the premier poets of his generation. He was awarded the Anti-Booker Prize and accepted an invitation to the Rotterdam Poetry Festival. His suicide, seen by many skeptics as a desperate plea for recognition and fame, was a sad consequence of his manic depression and substance abuse. Shortly afterwards, he was posthumously awarded the Northern Palmyra, one of the mostly highly sought after prizes in Russian letters, for his collection Opravdaniye zhizni.
Since his death in 2001, his poetry has been lauded and added to the canon of Russian poets. Many of his poems and collections have been added to the volumes of essential literature in the last several years, and he has gained huge popularity for his verse, which is at times vulgar and swaggering, at times formally masterful and reminiscent of Russia's Silver Age. Through his short, poignant lyrics he crafted a persona of post-Soviet delinquency and despair. His own depression and addiction to alcohol figure prominently. He was from the intelligentsia class, and had an impressive education in geology and nuclear geophysics and published many scientific papers.
Curiously, his reputation has been slow to grow outside of Russia. Following his death, a few translations have appeared into English, Italian, German, Dutch and Spanish.
Aliona van der Horst made the documentary Boris Ryzhy in 2009, and has received several awards including the Best Feature Documentary at the Edinburgh International Film Festival 2009.