Charles Bukowski (1920–1994) was a prolific German-American poet, novelist, and short story writer based in Los Angeles, known for his gritty “dirty realism” style. His work directly explores the lives of the working-class poor, alcoholism, intense relationships, and the drudgery of modern life. Famous for works like Post Office and Ham on Rye, he wrote raw, direct prose and poetry.
Charles Bukowski has had a profound influence on Maxim Shalygin’s creative work. Maxim was particularly inspired by Bukowski’s freedom of thought and his uncompromising pursuit of personal liberty.
Maxim’s Recommendation:
If you are new to Bukowski, start with Tales of Ordinary Madness or the novel Women.
Alexander Sushinsky
Art historian and curator. Founder of the Counterfactual Art Archive at the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland. Researcher of fakeology in art.
Born in the year of Blood Meridian, raised in a city of reinforced concrete, lived in places where Celan taught how to measure the depth of a wound with an eyelash, and now somewhere there, where the neutrality of elusiveness prevails.
Author of the poem for the choral-and-orchestral work Canto Paradiso.
I have the warmest memories of my grandmother Polina, who always tried to protect me and teach me about life as best she could.
She always used to say, ‘The most important thing in life is to be a good person.’
She never drew herself, but in her final years, my mother gave her coloring books, and she would sit there completely absorbed in them, just like a child. Sometimes I think that when I draw, I turn into the happiest child.
Georgian-Ukrainian conductor Mikheil Menabde completed his conducting studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (mdw), following his earlier training under Roman Kofman at the National Music Academy of Ukraine.
He is a permanent guest conductor of the Kyiv Philharmonic and the Georgian National Symphony Orchestra, and regularly conducts contemporary works at leading European festivals. His work is characterized by structural clarity, artistic precision, and emotional depth.
Menabde currently serves as the Artistic Director and Vice President of the CosmoKultur association.