$14.95 ISBN 978-1-941920-03-9 51495> 9 781941920039 Calligraphy Lesson is the first English-language collection of short stories by Mikhail Shishkin, the most acclaimed contemporary author in Russia. Spanning his entire writing career, from his first published story, “Calligraphy Lesson,” which heralded an entirely new voice in post-Soviet Russian literature and won him Russia’s prestigious Debut Prize in 1993, to creative essays reflecting on the transcendent importance of language, to the newest story, “Nabokov’s Inkblot,” written in 2013 for dramatic adaptation by a theater in Zurich. A master prose writer and unique stylist, Shishkin is heir to the greatest Russian writers,such as Tolstoy, Bunin,and Pasternak, and is the living em- bodiment of the combination of style and content that has made Russian literature so unique and universally popular for over two centuries. Shishkin’s breathtakingly beautiful writing style comes across perfectly in these stories, where he experiments with the forms and ideas that are worked into his grand novels while exploring entirely new literary territory in the space between fiction and creative nonfiction as he reflects on the most important and universal themes in life: love, happiness, art, death, resurrection... More praise for Mikhail Shishkin: “Often sings with powerfully estranged, original observations... minutiae and grand philosophy collide on every page.”—Boris fishman, The New York Times Book Review “Shishkin is interested in what is most precious and singular in classic Russian fiction: the passionate inquiry into what, in Maidenhair, is called the ‘soul, quintessence, pollen.’” —Sam Sacks, The Wall Street Journal “Mikhail Shishkin is the Ian McEwan of Russia. A prize-winning writer who enjoys stunning commercial and critical success...His latest novel [The Light and the Dark]...is striking proof that great Russian literature didn't die with Dostoevsky.” —Monocle Magazine “[Shishkin] manages to engage Russia’s literary heritage while at the same time creating something new and altogether original.” —World Literature Today “Shishkin has been described as the heir apparent of the great Russian novelists, and indeed, there are times when he seems to have taken the best from each of them.” —The Quarterly Conversation “As an extraordinary prose stylist, Shishkin has license to be unconventional… Maidenhair is likely a work of genius.”—World Literature Today CA L L I G R APHY LESSON CA L L I G R APHY LESSON — Mikhail Shishkin Translated from the Russian by Marian Schwartz, Leo Shtutin, Sylvia Maizell, and Mariya Bashkatova Deep Vellum Publishing Dallas, Texas Deep Vellum Publishing 2919 Commerce St. #159, Dallas, Texas 75226 deepvellum.org · @deepvellum Copyright © 2015 by Mikhail Shishkin Published by arrangement with the author and the BGS Agency. English translation copyrights: “Calligraphy Lesson” © 2007 by Marian Schwartz “The Half-Belt Overcoat” © 2012 by Leo Shtutin “Of Saucepans and Star-Showers” © 2013 by Leo Shtutin “Nabokov’s Inkblot” © 2014 by Mariya Bashkatova “In a Boat Scratched on a Wall,” “The Blind Musician,” and “Language Saved” © 2015 by Marian Schwartz “The Bell Tower of San Marco” © 2015 by Sylvia Maizell Some stories were published previously: “The Half-Belt Overcoat” in Read Russia: An Anthology of New Voices (May 2012) “Calligraphy Lesson” in Words Without Borders (July 2007) “Nabokov’s Inkblot” in New England Review (Volume 34, Nos. 3–4, 2014) “Of Saucepans and Star-Showers” in Spolia (March 2013) “In a Boat Scratched on a Wall” originally appeared in slightly different form as “Mikhail Shishkin: A revolution for Russia’s words” in the Independent (March 22, 2013) First edition, 2015. All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-941920-03-9 (paperback) · 978-1-941920-02-2 (ebook) Library of Congress Control Number: 2015935163 — Издание осуществлено при участии Программы поддержки переводов русской литературы TRANSCRIPT Фонда Михаила Прохорова. The publication of this book was made possible with the support of the Mikhail Prokhorov Foundation’s Transcript program to support the translation of Russian literature. — Cover design & typesetting by Anna Zylicz · annazylicz.com Text set in Bembo, a typeface modeled on typefaces cut by Francesco Griffo for Aldo Manuzio’s printing of De Aetna in 1495 in Venice. Deep Vellum titles are published under the fiscal sponsorship of The Writer’s Garret, a nationally recognized nonprofit literary arts organization. Distributed by Consortium Book Sales & Distribution. Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper. Contents — The Half-Belt Overcoat 1 Translated by Leo Shtutin Calligraphy Lesson 21 Translated by Marian Schwartz The Blind Musician 49 Translated by Marian Schwartz Language saved 89 Translated by Marian Schwartz Nabokov’s Inkblot 97 Translated by Mariya Bashkatova Of Saucepans and Star-Showers 113 Translated by Leo Shtutin The Bell Tower of San Marco 129 Translated by Sylvia Maizell In a Boat Scratched on a Wall 155 Translated by Marian Schwartz The Half-Belt Overcoat