Varlam Shalamov Edition of Works

The literary work of the Russian poet and author Varlam Shalamov (1907–1982) remained relatively unknown for a long time to the German reading public and other international audiences. He did, however, establish a prominent position for himself in twentieth-century literature thanks to the literary caliber of his critique of Stalin’s regime of violence, especially in his six cycles of short stories entitled, “The Kolyma Tales.” In his writings on Soviet ‘camp civilization,’ Shalamov develops an extremely dense and sober literary style, making him something of a contrasting figure, aesthetically speaking, to Aleksander Solzhenitsyn. In addition to the editorial coordination of publishing Shalamov’s works, this project is also concerned with situating Varlam Shalamov within international debates on ‘writing after the GULag’ and ‘writing after Auschwitz.’

Since 2007 Franziska Thun-Hohenstein has been publishing the volumes of this edition in the translation by Gabriele Leupold and published by Matthes & Seitz Berlin.

Vol. 1: Durch den Schnee. Erzählungen aus Kolyma 1 (2007)
Vol. 2: Linkes Ufer. Erzählungen aus Kolyma 2 (2008)
Vol. 3: Künstler der Schaufel. Erzählungen aus Kolyma 3 (2010)
Vol. 4: Die Auferweckung der Lärche. Erzählungen aus Kolyma 4 (2011)
Vol. 5: Das vierte Wologda. Erinnerungen (2013)
Vol. 6: Wischera. Antiroman (2016)
Vol. 7: Über die Kolyma. Erinnerungen (2018)

Additionally Matthes & Seitz published in 2009 Warlam Schalamow. Über Prosa and in 2018 the volume Schalamow.Lektüren edited by Dirk Naguschewski and Matthias Schwartz.