{{Short description|Novel by Andrey Kurkov}} {{Infobox book | name = Grey Bees | title_orig = Серые пчелы | translator = Boris Dralyuk | image = File:Grey Bees.jpg | caption = Ukrainian Cover | author = Andrey Kurkov | illustrator = | cover_artist = | country = Ukraine | language = Russian | series = | genre = | publisher = MacLehose Press (UK) | release_date = 2018 | english_release_date = May 14, 2020 | media_type = Print (Paperback) | pages = 304 | isbn = 978-0857059345 | oclc = }} '''''Grey Bees''''' ({{langx|uk|Сірі бджоли}}; {{langx|ru|Серые пчёлы}}) is a 2018 novel by Ukrainian author Andrey Kurkov.
It was translated by Boris Dralyuk and published in English in 2020 (by MacLehose Press, UK) and in 2022 (by Deep Vellum, USA), winning the inaugural Gregg Barrios Book in Translation Prize from the National Book Critics Circle.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bookcritics.org/2023/03/24/announcing-the-2022-nbcc-award-winners/|title=Announcing the 2022 NBCC Award Winners|publisher=National Book Critics Circle|first=David|last=Varno|date=March 24, 2023}}</ref> It was also translated into French by Paul Lequesne as ''Les Abeilles grises'', which won the 2022 Prix Médicis étranger.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Lépine|first=Elise|date=8 November 2022|title=Prix Médicis étranger – Andreï Kourkov récompensé pour ''Les Abeilles grises''|url=https://www.lepoint.fr/livres/prix-medicis-etranger-andrei-kourkov-recompense-pour-les-abeilles-grises-08-11-2022-2496901_37.php|magazine=Le Point|language=fr|access-date=11 November 2022}}</ref>
This novel has "elements of both the fable and the epic",<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/grey-bees-andrey-kurkov-review-uilleam-blacker/|title=Apiculture|first=Uilleam|last=Blacker|website=TLS|date=5 February 2021|access-date=13 March 2022}}</ref> and it dramatises the conflict in Ukraine through the adventures of a beekeeper.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/andrey-kurkov/grey-bees/9780857059369/|title=Grey Bees|date=11 May 2020 |publisher=Hachette|isbn=9780857059369 }}</ref>
In 2024, the novel was adapted as a feature film by Ukrainian director Dmytro Moysieiev. The film won several awards in Ukraine.<ref>{{cite web | title=The winners of 2024 | website=Odesa International Film Festival | url=https://new.oiff.com.ua/en/%D0%BF%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%B6%D1%86%D1%96-2024 | access-date=2025-10-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last=Amru | first=Oleksandra | title=The National Award of Film Critics 'Kinokolo' has declared the winners of 2024 | website=Бабель | date=2024-10-18 | url=https://babel.ua/en/news/111807-the-national-award-of-film-critics-kinokolo-has-declared-the-winners-of-2024 | access-date=2025-10-26}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * [https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/ukrainian-novelist-andrey-kurkov-on-preserving-his-countrys-culture-during-war PBS NewsHour interview with Andrey Kurkov] (April 11, 2022) * [https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/29/books/review/belorusets-kurkov-lucky-breaks-grey-bees.html New York Times Review]
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Category:Novels by Andrey Kurkov Category:2018 Russian novels Category:21st-century Ukrainian novels Category:Fiction about beekeeping Category:Russian-Ukrainian culture Category:Russian-language novels
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