Poet, satirist, literary critic, novelist, and media personality Dmitry Bykov was Ithaca City of Asylum‘s eighth artist in residence. He was supported by a fellowship from the Open Society University Network and was hosted at the Institute for European Studies in the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies at Cornell.

Bykov is one of Russia’s best-known public intellectuals. He has authored more than 70 books, including novels, poetry, biographies, and literary criticism. In 2023, he took a position as a visiting assistant professor of Russian at the University of Rochester.

Known for his wit, he served as the host of numerous television and radio programs in Russia. He has paid a high price for his outspoken criticism of Russian president Vladimir Putin. In April 2019, he fell ill while on an airplane flight and spent five days in a coma. An investigation by the news organization Bellingcat found that the symptoms were very similar to those suffered by opposition politician Alexei Navalny and that the same government agents who poisoned Navalny had also been following him.

He remained in Russia after the incident, but he was banned from teaching at universities there or appearing on state radio or television.

Bykov says he would rather be known for his writing and teaching than for his poisoning or politics. He is a four-time winner of the International Award in the Field of Fantastic Literature, a three-time winner of the Fiction International Assembly Award, and a three-time winner of the Bolshaya Kniga (Big Book) award, one of Russia’s most prestigious literary prizes. Prior to his appointment at the University of Rochester, he held teaching positions at Princeton and UCLA as well as at universities in Russia.