П.И. Филимонов (P. I. Filimonov)
P.I. Filimonov (given name Roman Fokin; b. 4. III 1975) is a Russian-Estonian poet and prose writer.
He was born and educated in Tallinn, studying English philology at the Tallinn Pedagogical University. He has worked as an English teacher. He is a member of the Estonian Writers’ Union since 2011.
P. I. Filimonov is one of the most remarkable Russian-language authors to emerge in Estonian literature since 2000, earning attention with his debut novel Зона неевклидовой геометрии (‘The Zone of Non-Euclidean Geometry’, 2007, translated into Estonian in 2010), which is constructed on the basis of the mutual relations between the well-known ‘little people’ in Gogol’s and Chekhov’s works. The novel Thalassa! Thalassa! (2013) casts a look at the world of religious sects; Пела, пока всё нe закончилось (‘She Sang Until It All Stopped’, 2015, translated intto Estonian in 2016) looks at the special world of Russian babas (old ladies) who are seen as peculiarly Russian. Olimp, who looks after her grandmother, becomes wrapped in the tales told by the grandmother in this novel and ends up in a time-warp in the Communist era. The world of Russian bohemians or fortune-hunters of the recent past is the subject of the novel Hariton Naganovi surm ja ajatus (‘The Death and Timelessness of Hariton Naganov’, 2017).
Characteristic of Filimonov are trickiness, (post-modernist) play with genres, unexpected turns, (self-) irony and absurdity. Also characteristic of his poetry are post-modernism, nods to Russian and world literature, the mixing of the contemporary and the traditional. Notable in the poetry collection Väärastuste käsiraamat (‘A Handbook of Freakery’, 2011) are the abundant stylistic games and foreign vocabulary.
In 2007 Filimonov was awarded the Russian-language author’s prize of the Literature Endowment of Estonia for his poetry collection Мантры третего порядка (‘Mantras of the Third Degree’, 2007); he won a media stipend from the department of integration of the Ministry of Culture for the radio programme Sõnaline vitraaž (‘Verbal Mosaic’, with Igor Kotjuh, 2012), and in 2020 the Friedebert Tuglas short story prize for the story Sebastian Rüütli tõehetk (‘Sebastian Rüütel’s Moment of Truth’, 2019).
A. K. (Translated by C. M.)
Books in Russian
Novels
Зона неевклидовой геометрии: роман о манипуляции. Pедактор Безфармашинов; художественное оформление серии: Марек Аллвеэ. Тарту: Eesti Kirjanduse Selts: Tuulelohe – Воздушный Змей, 2007, 108 стр.
Пела, пока всё не закончилось. Pедактор Ольга Титова; обложка: Алёна Гинейко. Таллинн: Kite, 2015, 241 стр.
Poems
Мантры третьего порядка. Pедактор Безфармашинов. Тарту: Eesti Kirjanduse Selts; Tuulelohe – Воздушный змей (TVZ), 2007, 73 стр.
Боги безрыбья. Pедактор Николай Караев; иллюстрации: Кристина Вербицкая; фотография на обложке: Безфармашинов. Таллинн: Miredita, 2009, 91 стр + 1 CD (25 m 27 s).
Порошковые огнетушители. Таллинн: Kite, 2018, 108 стр.
Ночью все кошки. Paide: Kite, 2021, 100 стр.
Books in Estonian
Novels
Mitteeukleidilise geomeetria tsoon: romaan manipulatsioonist. Tallinn: Kite, 2010, 158 lk.
Thalassa! Thalassa!: romaan-imerohi. Tallinn: Varrak, 2013, 491 lk.
Laulis, kuni kõik lõppes. Tallinn: Varrak, 2016, 310 lk.
Hariton Naganovi surm ja ajatus: libabiograafia. Tallinn: Gallus, 2017, 296 lk.
Asünkroonujumine: romaan-lahkuminek. Tallinn: Tuum, 2019, 333 lk.
Pealtpanekud ja altminekud: katkueelse aja kroonikad. Vene keelest tõlkinud Veronika Einberg. Tallinn: EKSA, 2022, 286 lk.
Short prose
Nekroloogide kirjutamise oskus: novellid. Tallinn: Kite, 2013, 213 lk.
Poetry
Väärastuste käsiraamat. Tallinn: Tuum, 2011, 96 lk.
P.I. Filimonov, Katrin Väli, Tselluloos. Tallinn: Kite, 2015, 194 lk.
Läti stjuardessid teavad saladust. Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus, 2019, 100 lk.
