Siarhey Balakhonau

Siarhey Balakhonau (or Siarhiej Bałachonaŭ) (bel: Сяргей Балахонаў); born April 24, 1977) is a Belarusian postmodern writer.

By official data, Balakhonau was born in Gomel, although the real place of his birth is village Śviaciłavičy, in the Vetka Raion of Homiel Voblast. He graduated from Homiel secondary school № 49 with deepened studies of German in 1994, and from the history department of the Homiel State University (1999). In 2000 he served in Internal Troops of Belarus. From 2001 he works as the teacher of history and social science in Homel.

Mature creative activity began in 1992, but all works written till 1998's fall have never been published. They are collections of poetry Sunrolls («Сонцавароты»), The gate of maturity(«Брама сталасьці»), My Belarusian... («Мой беларускі...»), The twentieth eye of spring («Дваццатае вока вясны»), The hunting for text («Паляваньне на тэкст»), unfinished epic poems Hello, my beloved («Прывітаньне, мая каханая») and Aleś Halšeŭski («Алесь Гальшэўскі»), several fiction stories and narrative They were met by unfall («Іх спаткала нявосень»).

First publications appeared in autumn, 1998, in the self-published magazine Symbol («Сымболь») (published in Minsk, edited by Vadzim Karcaŭ) and in the newspapers «Naša Słova» and «Naša Niva» at the same time. Since 1999 his diaries, some worked-up city legends «Die modernen Sagen», essays, historical mystifications, verses, musical reviews and other works have been publishing at the pages of «Naša Niva» . In 2001 his debut in the «ARCHE» magazine took place. In the annotation to his story The death of a lute-player («Сьмерць лютністы») Bałachonaŭ was firstly associated with the postmodern course. Then the writer shows himself as an apologist of postmodernism in polemics with the literature critic Daniła Žukoŭski. In 2005 it was a debut in the foreign periodics: Czech magazine «Host» placed his article «Nĕkdo tam je, aneb Rozcestí nove bĕloruské literatury». In 2005 the publisher Ihar Łohvinaŭ distributed the first Balakhonau's book - the collection of proze The Name of the Pear («Імя грушы»). This book in the beginning 2007 has been included in short-list of applicants for reception of a literary award «Hliniany Viales — 2006». In 2006 in the literary and art almanac «Ears» («Калосьсе») (editor Aleś Arkuš) his story The Snow of captain Montgomery («Сьнег капітана Мантгомэры») has been published. Some works of the writer were included into the audiobook of the modern Belarusian literature «Night reading» («Начная чытанка»), 2007.

Books

• The Name of the Pear (Імя грушы) (2005) ISBN 985-6701-87-2
• The Land under the Phoenix Wings. Sketches from the Parallel History of Belarus (Зямля пад крыламі Фенікса. Нарысы з паралельнай гісторыі Беларусі) (2012) ISBN 978-985-562-033-5