Writer
   Valery Popov is a brilliant representative of the St. Petersburg literature tradition of the 1960s. He was born in 1939. Among his friends and kindred spirits were Brodsky, Bitov, Dovlatov. A purely St. Petersburg tendency towards irony, inherited from Gogol and Harms, is characteristic for Popov. But the modern life in Russia is rather close to grotesque, which might be the reason for the writer's success in this genre. He has published over twenty books for both children and adults. His writings have been translated into Polish, Czech, Hungarian, English, German and Chinese.
   Valery Popov is a laureate of the Dovlatov prize and the prize of the "Znamia" magazine. He is the chairman of the fiction section of the St. Petersburg Writers' Union and the president of the St. Petersburg branch of the PEN-club.
   The last book by the writers contains his autobiographical writings, the story of his amusing and tragic life from first steps to the last time, the era of savage capitalism. The heroes of his books are often his colleagues, writers, along with people from a diverse range of social strata - from politicians and businessmen to absurd characters, sunk to a low level, but still touching and amiable.
   Valery Popov finds something human in every character, empathizes with them - that is the reason why his books can be read with tears and a smile.

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