Narine Abgaryan
Narine Abgaryan ( (; born in Berd, Tavoush Province, Armenia on January 14, 1971) is a Russian writer and blogger of Armenian origin. In 2011, Abgaryan was a nominee of Big Book and Laureate of Yasnaya Polyana Literary Award, Russia, in 2016. She is the author of "Manyunya", "People Who Are Always With Me", "Three Apples Fell from the Sky", "Simon", and others. In 2020, "The Guardian" named her among the brightest authors of Europe. Biography. Abgaryan was born in Berd, Tavush Province, Armenia, to a family of a doctor and a teacher. She is the oldest among the five  children. Her paternal grandfather was an Armenian refugee from Western Armenia, and her grandmother was a native of Eastern Armenia. Her maternal grandfather was also an Armenian, a native of Karabakh, and grandmother was Russian, a native of the Arkhangelsk region of Russia. She has a son Emil Mednikov born in 1995. Education. In 1988, Abgaryan finished high school in Berd, Armenia. She also attended music school where specialized in the piano. In 1993, she graduated from Yerevan Brusov University of Languages. She majored in Russian language and literature teaching. She later moved to Moscow where she worked as an  accountant and a seller. Literary life. Abgaryan became a blogger in Life Journal. The stories about a little girl called Manuynya fascinated writer Lara Gall, and she introduced the author to the editor of Astrel-SPb Publishing house. The autobiographical novel "Manyunya" received The Manuscript of the Year Russian national literary award. Later, the author went on writing a trilogy about the girl called Manyunya. In 2012, "Simeon Andreich, Manuscript in Scrawls–" was published, illustrated by Victoria Kirdiy. In 2014, "Chocolate Granddad" was published, co-authored with Valentin Postnikov. It is the only book that she calls a children's  book. In August 2015, Abgaryan was called one of two laureates of the Alexander Grin Literature Award "for her outstanding contribution to the national literature development". In March 2020, her novel "Three Apples Fell from the Sky" was translated into English and published by Oneworld Publications. "Manyunya" was staged by SamArt Youth Theatre, Russia. Awards. Her collection of short stories "Semyon Andreevich, Chronicle in Scribbles" was named the best children's book of the last decade in Russia. Bibliography. Her books have been translated into 14 languages.