Rosamund Bartlett & Elena Michajlowska on Chekhov’s Earliest Stories

Anton Chekhov’s short stories are staples of English literature degrees and creative writing courses alike, yet his earliest stories written between the ages of twenty and twenty-two are often overlooked.

This volume of Chekov’s Earliest Stories: Stories, Novellas, Humoresques, 1880–1882, edited by Rosamund Bartlett and Elena Michajlowska, provides the first comprehensive English translation of the fifty-eight pieces Chekhov wrote as a medical student to earn some extra kopeks. It is the outcome of a remarkable international collaboration of eighty-three volunteer translators from nine countries over ten years.

Brisk, brutal and mischievously observant, these early stories by the young Chekhov already reveal the psychological insight and humanity that would later define his work as a dramatist.

Presented by Georgia de Chamberet A BookBlast® Production