Markiyan Kamysh

Markiyan Kamysh (Ukrainian: Маркіян Камиш, born 19 October 1988) is a Ukrainian novelist.

Markiyan Kamysh is only person who representing the Chernobyl underground in literature. Since 2010, he has been illegally investigating the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. He is the son of the Chernobyl liquidator, nuclear physicist and design engineer of the Institute for Nuclear Research (NASU).

A Stroll to the Zone

A Stroll to the Zone (Ukrainian: Оформляндія) is the novel about illegal stalkers of Chernobyl. In 2016, after critical acclaim in Ukraine, the book was published in France by Arthaud (Groupe Flammarion). French magazine Le Nouvel Observateur has called it “Stunning book”. Monaco Hebdo magazine has included it in the list of choices of the month.

Keller Editore printed the book in 2019. The result is TOP10 books of 2019 according to la Repubblica as one of the "Constellations of the ten books that best reflect the spirit of the times". And TOP5 books of 2020 about Chernobyl from Italian Esquire.In a separate review for la Repubblica, the former director of the Italian GQ called Kamysh a "strong character".

Corriere della Sera wrote about the novel: "Thanks to a style balanced between the linguistic ecstasy of a desperate journey, between the destruction of the relics of a historical tragedy and the cruel and sentimental minimalism of a terrible reality, Kamysh writes a book that can shake us in the face of human pain and the pain of nature".

The Ukrainian novelist Andrey Kurkov said about this text: "The book 'A Stroll to the Zone' (La Zone)" by Markian Kamysh is definitely double discovery for any reader! The first discovery is the author himself with his vivid and very dynamic narrative, and the other one — the content of the book that will open for you completely unknown reality — life in Chernobyl zone behind the barbed wire, life described by those who made this zone their secret and illegal playground. Markian Kamysh is one of them and that's why the book is also an honest first hand experience!"

Myroslav Slaboshpytskyi, director of the film The Tribe, called A Stroll to the Zone "a new breath and new voice in Ukrainian literature".

The longer I stay in Pripyat, the stronger I believe that we’re all set in motion by the implacable flow of time. We’re in a rush to leave our mark wherever time has stopped, by doing street art, writing a book, shooting a movie, or taking pictures of every nook and cranny. We are in a rush, for we feel that this place is vanishing before our very eyes and that deserted towns are quickly transforming into ruins and jungles. It’s a good thing that our marks fuel their resurrection.

— Markiyan Kamysh, Asymptote Journal