Draft:Arkady Ostrovsky


Arkady Ostrovsky (рус. Аркадий Михайлович Островский), born April 9, 1971, is a Russian-born British journalist, political observer, publicist, theatre scholar, and translator. He is an award-winning author and journalist who focuses on Russia and Eastern Europe.

Biography

Born in Moscow in 1971 to a family of Soviet physiologists, Ostrovsky graduated from the State Institute of Theatre Arts in 1992 and from Cambridge University in 1996. He holds a PhD in English Literature from Cambridge University, focusing on productions of Shakespeare, Dickens, and Byron on the stage of the Moscow Art Theatre.

Journalism Career

From 1996 to 2006, Ostrovsky was a contributor to the Financial Times. From 2007 to 2016, he served as the Moscow bureau chief for The Economist. Currently, he is the newspaper’s Russia and Eastern Europe editor.

Book "The Invention of Russia"

Ostrovsky's book, The Invention of Russia: From Gorbachev's Freedom to Putin's War (2015), won the 2016 Orwell Prize. The book examines the transformation of Russia from the collapse of the Soviet Union to its current state under Vladimir Putin. It explores how a nation that embraced freedom transitioned towards authoritarianism and militarism. The book focuses on the media and its role in shaping Russia's dominant narrative.

Podcast "Next Year in Moscow"

In 2023, Ostrovsky presented an eight-part podcast series for The Economist titled Next Year in Moscow. The podcast explores the topic of Russian anti-war immigration and the future of the country. It was ranked second on The New Yorker's list of best podcasts for 2023

Theatre

Ostrovsky is also a theatre scholar and translator. He has translated several plays by Tom Stoppard, including The Coast of Utopia, Rock-n-Roll, The Hard Problem, and Leopoldstadt, which was staged in the Russian Academic Youth Theatre. Arkady Ostrovsky is a student of Inna Solovyova, Russian theatre critic who influenced his worldview.

[1] [2] [3]