Until 1983, Tolstaya worked at the Nauka publishing house, at the same time she began writing. In the 90s she went to America, where she taught Russian literature and collaborated with The New Yorker, New York Review of Books and other magazines.
In the early 2000s, the writer returned to her homeland and became involved in social activities. Readers eagerly awaited not only her books, but also her witty journalistic notes and television programs. For a long time, Tolstaya, in collaboration with Avdotya Smirnova, hosted the “School of Scandal” program. Thanks to her charm and literary flair, Tatyana Nikitichna quickly won the love of the audience.
Literary creativity
Tolstoy's first collection, “They Sat on the Golden Porch...”, was published in 1987. Soon after this, Tolstoy was accepted into the USSR Writers' Union. Her stories began to be published in major magazines, for example, in Novy Mir. In 1998, Tolstaya wrote the novel “Sisters” in collaboration with her sister. Since that time, the writer’s works began to be translated into English, German, French and other languages.Tolstoy's first novel, Kys, was published upon her return from the United States in 2000. This book brought popularity to the writer and formed the basis of a dozen theatrical productions. In 2001, collections of Tolstoy’s stories “Day”, “Night” and “Two” were published. Tolstaya received the MIBF Prize in the Prose category. The radio station “Echo of Moscow” and the magazine “Ogonyok” included the writer in the list of the hundred most influential women in Russia.
early years
Russian writer Tatyana Nikitichna Tolstaya was born in Leningrad. Tatyana was born into a family with rich literary traditions - Tolstoy's maternal grandfather is the poet Mikhail Lozinsky, her paternal grandfather is a famous Soviet writer Alexey Tolstoy; his wife, Tatiana’s grandmother, is the poetess Natalya Krandievskaya. The father of the future writer is Doctor of Physical Sciences, Professor Nikita Tolstoy. The Tolstoy family had many children; Tatyana had seven brothers and sisters.Tatyana Tolstaya in Posner's program
After graduating from school, Tatyana Tolstaya entered the Faculty of Philology Leningrad University (now St. Petersburg State University). Tolstoy's specialty is ancient languages: Latin and Greek. In 1974, Tatyana graduated from the university and married philologist A. Lebedev, soon moving with her husband to the capital. In Moscow, Tolstaya gets a job at the Main Editorial Office of Oriental Literature at the Nauka publishing house, where she worked as a proofreader for almost ten years, until 1983.
The year of dismissal from Nauka became the year of Tolstoy’s literary debut. In the same year, Tatyana made her debut as a literary critic, publishing her first critical article in Voprosy Literatury. The impetus for Tatyana to begin literary creativity was eye surgery. After vision correction in those years, the blindfold was removed after at least a month, and while Tolstaya was lying idle with a blindfold on her eyes, the first stories began to appear in her head, which later turned into the stories “They sat on the golden porch...”, “Sonya” , "Date with a Bird."
Tatyana Tolstoy's debut in literature
The writer's literary debut took place in 1983. The Aurora magazine published the story “They were sitting on the golden porch...”. Literary critics and readers received the story with enthusiasm; at the end of the year, the work was recognized as the best literary debut of 1983. The work kaleidoscopically presented the child's impressions, ranging from ordinary everyday events and everyday meetings to mysterious and fairy-tale characters born of children's imagination.After the success of the story in the so-called “thick magazines” - “New World”, “Aurora”, “Star” - her stories “Date with a Bird” (1983), “Sonya” (1984), “Clean Slate” (1984) were published. , “If you love - you don’t love” (1984) and others. In total, between 1983 and 1988, more than twenty stories were published in Soviet periodicals, which in 1987 made up the writer’s debut collection “They Sat on the Golden Porch...”. In addition to those previously published and those being prepared for publication, the story includes the never-published “Dear Shura”, “Fakir”, etc. In 1988, Tatyana Tolstaya became a member of the Union of Writers of the USSR.
Unlike the first publication, other works of Tatyana Tolstoy were not so enthusiastically received by critics. Tolstoy was accused of “density of writing”, overly rich imagery on the one hand, and “template”, constructing all the stories according to one scenario on the other. Despite the attacks of critics, Tatyana Tolstaya becomes an original, independent author, respected in the writing community. Apart from Tolstoy, then almost no one dared to write about “urban madmen” - old women, brilliant poets, feeble-minded disabled people living and dying in the bourgeois urban environment. In 1989, Tolstaya became a member of the Russian PEN Center.
Life abroad
Since 1990, Tatyana Tolstaya has moved to the United States of America, settling in Princeton. In the States, the writer teaches Russian literature and Russian literary creativity at Skidmore College, lectures at universities and collaborates with such magazines as the New York review of books and The New Yorker. In addition, Tolstaya is interested in changes in the Russian language abroad under the influence of surrounding people and events, writes several scientific articles on the topic of emigrant Russian and its differences with literary Russian. The programmatic article of her research in those years is the essay “Hope and Support,” in which the writer gives a number of interesting hypotheses, conclusions, and gives examples of emigrant Americanisms in the spoken Russian language of the United States. 
Since 1991, Tatyana Tolstaya began working as a columnist for Moscow News, where she wrote the famous author’s column “Own Bell Tower.” After some time, Tatyana joined the editorial board of the Stolitsa magazine and collaborated with Russian Telegraph. Tatyana Nikitichna also does not give up her literary activity: the nineties were marked by the release of such books as “If you love, you don’t love” (1997), “Okkervil River” (1999); in co-authorship with her sister Natalya Tolstoy, in 1998 the book “Sisters” was published. In the same years, Tatyana became popular abroad - her stories were published in French, English, German, and Swedish. In 1998, Tolstaya became one of the founders and joined the editorial board of the American literary magazine Counterpoint. In 1999, Tatyana returned to her homeland. In Russia, the writer continues to engage in journalism, teach and create literary works.
"Kys" and other novels by Tatyana Tolstoy
At the beginning of the two thousandth Tatyana Tolstaya moved away from the short genre in which she wrote from the very beginning literary activity. Major novels begin to come out from her pen. In 2000, Tolstoy’s debut novel “Kys” was published, favorably received by critics and the public. The book quickly becomes a bestseller and receives the Triumph Award. 
In many theaters in Russia and abroad, the novel was used as the basis for performances; since 2001, Radio Russia has been broadcasting a literary radio series based on the novel (scriptwriter and project director - Olga Khmeleva). Tolstaya consolidated her commercial success in 2001 by releasing three books at once - “Day”, “Night” and “Two” with a total circulation of more than two hundred thousand copies. The XIV Moscow International Book Fair awards Tatyana Tolstoy the main prize in the “Prose” category. In 2002, the writer became editor-in-chief of the Konservator publication.
Tatyana Tolstaya and “School of Scandal”
Since 2002, Tatyana Tolstaya has appeared on television. The writer’s first appearance was her participation in the “Basic Instinct” program; since October of the same year, together with Avdotya Smirnova, Tolstaya has been hosting the television program “School of Scandal.” From the first to the third season she was a member of the jury of the TV show “Minute of Fame”. In the “Big Difference” program, parodies of Tolstoy appeared twice - once the writer was parodied as a member of the “Minute of Fame” jury, and the second time as a co-host of the “School of Scandal.” In 2003, Tolstoy and Smirnova’s program received the TEFI Award in the “Best Talk Show” category.“The Same ABC of Pinocchio”
Since 2010, Tatyana Tolstaya begins to write books not only for adults, but also for children. In collaboration with Olga Prokhorova, she publishes the book “The Same ABC of Pinocchio”, connected by a common plot with the famous book of Alexei Tolstoy’s grandfather “The Golden Key, or the Adventures of Pinocchio”. The idea of the book, according to Tolstoy, was born thirty years ago, but there was not enough time and inspiration to implement the project. Once, in a conversation with her niece, Olga Prokhorova, Tolstaya mentioned this, and she, fired up by the idea, offered to co-author a book. As a result, the work took second place in the rating of children's literature at the XXIII Moscow Book Fair.Tatyana Tolstaya about unrequited love
Personal life of Tatyana Tolstoy
Tatyana Tolstaya is married to philologist Andrei Lebedev and has two children. The eldest son is Artemy, a famous designer and head of the leading art studio in Russia, Artemy Lebedev Studio. The youngest son Alexey lives in the USA, is a photographer, programmer, and computer program architect. Alexey is married and has no children.Writer, publicist, TV presenter Tatyana Nikitichna Tolstaya was born on May 3, 1951 in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) into a literary family. She is the granddaughter, on one side, of the writer Alexei Tolstoy and the poetess Natalia Krandievskaya, and on the other, the famous literary translator Mikhail Lozinsky.
After graduating from school, Tatyana Tolstaya entered Leningrad University in the department of classical philology (Latin and Greek), from which she graduated in 1974.
She got married and, following her husband, a Muscovite, moved to Moscow, where she got a job as a proofreader at the “Main Editorial Office of Oriental Literature” at the Nauka publishing house.
Tatyana Nikitichna for a long time lived in the USA, where she taught Russian literature and creative writing at Skidmore College (Saratoga Springs) and Princeton, collaborated with the New York review of books, The New‑Yorker, TLS and other magazines, and lectured at other universities. Returning in the late 1990s. home, she took up literary, journalistic and teaching activities.
In 2002, Tolstaya took part in the TV show “Basic Instinct.” From the same year, she became the constant presenter (together with Dunya Smirnova) of the television talk show “School of Scandal” on the NTV channel. In co-authorship with Smirnova, she wrote the book “Kitchen of the School of Scandal.”
Tatyana Nikitichna was a permanent member of the jury of the show “Minute of Fame” (seasons 1-3) on Channel One.
Tatiana Tolstaya -
One of the hundred most influential women in Russia, a writer who has become a striking event in modern Russian literature. Being the heiress of a famous family, she worthily continues the work of her famous ancestors, who became famous in the literary field.
In her works, she touches on the most exciting topics and makes the reader her interlocutor, treating him with the utmost respect. A writer, a true master of words, a literary critic, a journalist, a wonderful wife and mother, for whom family life not only interferes, but also helps her to develop further and confidently stay in the top of the best - Tatyana Nikitichna Tolstaya. The biography of this woman will be discussed in this article.
A future philologist, Taurus zodiac sign, Tanya was born on May 3, 1951 in the northern capital. Her parents were respected people: her father was a doctor of physical sciences, her mother was a poetess. In addition to Tatyana, six brothers and sisters grew up in the family. Both of Tatyana's grandfathers were writers, and among her great-grandfathers were a doctor and a privy councilor. The famous Leo Tolstoy is her seventh cousin.
As a child, the girl loved to read. She spent whole days with books and textbooks on literature. And after graduating from school, I decided without a doubt to choose the Faculty of Philology of St. Petersburg State University. Studying was quite easy for Tanya, despite the fact that she chose the department of classical philology, where the emphasis was on Latin and Greek language. But the girl coped with everything successfully.
This happened under very unusual circumstances. In 1983, she underwent serious eye surgery, after which the young woman had to lie with a bandage for a month. It was then that ideas and images of future stories began to appear in Tolstoy’s head. She imagined them quite vividly. When she was allowed to read and pick up a pencil, Tatyana Nikitichna transferred all her thoughts to paper and realized that this was something worthwhile.
To the pinnacle of success
Soon her other stories were also successful:
- "Sonya."
- “If you love it, you don’t love it.”
- "Clean Slate" and others.
Tatyana Nikitichna's works have been repeatedly awarded prizes and awards. The circle of its readers expanded every year, and the name of a new person in literature began to be discussed more often.
At the end of the 80s, Tatyana Tolstaya decided to go abroad, where she was invited to give lectures on Russian literature. While working in college in the United States, the writer began to discover more possibilities, get to know people more deeply, and gain more practical experience.
Until the end of the 20th century, Tatyana worked at foreign universities, where at that time interest in the study of language and literature increased. It was then that Tolstaya began to hear and analyze the “hybridity” of Russian words and evaluate the possibility of translating them into a foreign language.
In the early 2000s, Tatyana Nikitichna returned to Moscow and began working as a journalist and teacher at the university. From that time on, her books began to be published with success. Total for this moment 14 books published. Among them:
- "Day. Personal" (2007).
- "Sisters" (1998).
- "Kys" (2001).
- "Light Worlds" (2014).
- “Felt Age” (2015) and others.
In her work, the writer always chose universal themes of evil and good, death and life, relations between generations. Over time, the heroes of her works became more diverse and deep. So, you can meet crazy grandmothers, mentally disabled people, and people who find themselves in difficult, inhumane conditions.
TV success
In addition, the famous writer is often invited as an expert on the jury of various television shows. For example, with her participation, the talent show “Minute of Glory” was broadcast on one of the central channels.
Besides works of art and critical articles, Tatyana Nikitichna published a book about cooking, in which she shared the secrets of her “personal kitchen,” her own photographs and quotes.
Family happiness
Today Tatyana Nikitichna still follows her own path in literature. True, she is not alien to modern technologies: The writer has mastered blogging. Today you can read her texts on the Internet, subscribe to her pages and periodically receive news and materials from the writer’s personal blogs.
In addition, Tolstaya pays great attention to creative meetings with her readers. She believes that live communication brings more useful emotions and helps people connect with literature and comprehend it more deeply. Author: Anastasia Kaykova
Tatyana Nikitichna Tolstaya is a modern Russian writer. Her first stories were published in the early 1980s and immediately caused mixed reviews from readers and critics: some considered her works boring, while others could not tear themselves away from them.
In front of me lies a collection of short stories, “The Okkervil River,” which was first released in 1999. When writing the review, I used the 2006 edition of the Eksmo publishing house.
When I started reading this book, I did not at all expect that it would impress me as much as the works of Russian writers of the 19th and 20th centuries. The fact is that it was with this book that I began to become acquainted with the work of Tatyana Tolstoy, and I did not regret it.
The collection "Okkervil River" includes 31 stories: "Sonya", "Dear Shura", "Plot", "Circle" and many others. What can we say about them? They are very unusual. These works are not just stories about people or some significant events in their lives, they are picturesque sketches, paintings that amaze with their psychologism and attentiveness to the human soul. The stories are relatively short, but this is their advantage: in a few, very precise words, Tatyana Tolstaya creates the image, the mood of the character, his environment. The writer does not just write about the heroes of her works, their lives, morals, it is as if she wants the portrait she created of them remained in the memory of readers, so that these images, these people entered our souls and took their place there.
Tatyana Tolstoy’s stories should be read, if only because they are very humane: there is nothing vulgar, repulsive, disgusting in them, the author’s respect not only for the characters, but also for the reader is felt in them. The works of this collection can be described as “warm”, yes exactly this word. They need to be read while sitting in an armchair in the evening, covered with a soft blanket, listening to the drumming of the rain outside the window. When reading Tatyana Tolstoy’s stories, you are immersed in a bright, cozy atmosphere and experience a sweet feeling of peace, which a person most often feels when surrounded by family or close friends.
Heroes of stories - strange people, weirdos out of this world, who often remain incomprehensible and mysterious to others. This is Sonya from the work of the same name, and Alexandra Ernestovna from the story “Dear Shura”. They live a completely different, unusual life, their inner world very different from other people's world. Tatyana Tolstaya is trying to comprehend the mystery, feelings and way of thinking of these eccentrics, providing this opportunity to us, the readers. Her stories make us think, analyze, and understand.
The works of the collection “Okkervil River” are very relevant, because in them the reader can find that piece of soulfulness and beauty that we so rarely have the opportunity to observe in our modern life. We can talk about these stories a lot and for a long time, but the best way is to read them.
Therefore, what can I say to conclude this article? Read Tatyana Tolstoy's book "The Okkervil River", you will not regret it and will not waste your time, it deserves your attention.