# Keith Gessen

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American writer

Keith Gessen Born Konstantin Alexandrovich Gessen (1975-01-09) January 9, 1975 (age 51) Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union Occupation Editor writer academic Education Harvard University (BA) Syracuse University (MFA)[1] Relatives M. Gessen (sibling)

**Keith Gessen** (born January 9, 1975)[2][3] is a Russian-born American novelist, journalist, and literary translator. He is co-founder and co-editor of American literary magazine *[n+1](/source/N%2B1)* and an assistant professor of journalism at the [Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism](/source/Columbia_University_Graduate_School_of_Journalism).[1] In 2008 he was named a "5 under 35" honoree by the [National Book Foundation](/source/National_Book_Foundation).

## Early life and education

Born **Konstantin Alexandrovich Gessen** ([Russian](/source/Russian_language): Константи́н Алекса́ндрович Ге́ссен), he was raised in a Jewish family in [Moscow](/source/Moscow), [Russian SFSR](/source/Russian_Soviet_Federative_Socialist_Republic), [Soviet Union](/source/Soviet_Union).[4] Gessen's mother was a literary critic[5] and his father is a computer scientist specializing in forensics.[6] His maternal grandmother, Rosalia (Ruzya) Solodovnik, was a Soviet government censor of dispatches filed by foreign reporters such as [Harrison Salisbury](/source/Harrison_Salisbury); his paternal grandmother, Ester Goldberg, was a translator for a foreign literary magazine.[4] In 1981, his family moved to the United States, settling in the [Boston](/source/Boston) area. They lived in [Brighton](/source/Brighton%2C_Massachusetts), [Brookline](/source/Brookline%2C_Massachusetts) and [Newton, Massachusetts](/source/Newton%2C_Massachusetts).[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

Gessen graduated from [Harvard University](/source/Harvard_University) with a [B.A.](/source/Bachelor_of_Arts) in history and literature in 1998.[1] He completed the course-work for his [M.F.A.](/source/Master_of_Fine_Arts) in creative writing from [Syracuse University](/source/Syracuse_University) in 2004 but did not initially receive a degree, having failed to submit "a final original work of fiction."[7] According to his Columbia University faculty biography, he ultimately received the degree.[1]

## Career

Gessen with Russian novelist [Ludmilla Petrushevskaya](/source/Ludmilla_Petrushevskaya) in 2009

Gessen has written about Russia for *[The New Yorker](/source/The_New_Yorker)*, *[The London Review of Books](/source/The_London_Review_of_Books)*, *[The Atlantic](/source/The_Atlantic)*, and the *[New York Review of Books](/source/New_York_Review_of_Books)*.[8] In 2004–2005, he was the regular book critic for *[New York](/source/New_York_(magazine))* magazine. In 2005, [Dalkey Archive Press](/source/Dalkey_Archive_Press) published Gessen's translation of [Svetlana Alexievich](/source/Svetlana_Alexievich)'s *Voices from Chernobyl* ([Russian](/source/Russian_language): *Tchernobylskaia Molitva*), an oral history of the [Chernobyl nuclear disaster](/source/Chernobyl_nuclear_disaster). In 2009, [Penguin](/source/Penguin_Books) published his translation (with Anna Summers) of [Ludmilla Petrushevskaya](/source/Ludmilla_Petrushevskaya)'s *There Once Lived a Woman Who Tried to Kill Her Neighbor's Baby: Scary Fairy Tales*.

Gessen's first novel, *[All the Sad Young Literary Men](/source/All_the_Sad_Young_Literary_Men)*, was published in April 2008 and received mixed reviews. [Joyce Carol Oates](/source/Joyce_Carol_Oates) wrote that "in this debut novel there is much that is charming and beguiling, and much promise".[9] The novelist [Jonathan Franzen](/source/Jonathan_Franzen) has said of Gessen, "It's so delicious the way he writes. I like it a lot."[10] *New York Magazine*, on the other hand, called the novel "self-satisfied" and "boringly [solipsistic](/source/Solipsistic)".[11]

In 2010, Gessen edited and introduced *Diary of a Very Bad Year: Confessions of an Anonymous Hedge Fund Manager*, a book about the [financial crisis](/source/Great_Recession).[12] In 2011, he became involved in the [Occupy Movement](/source/Occupy_Movement) in New York City. He co-edited the *OCCUPY! Gazette*, a newspaper reporting on [Occupy Wall Street](/source/Occupy_Wall_Street) and sponsored by *[n+1](/source/N%2B1)*.[13] On November 17, 2011, Gessen was arrested by the [New York City police](/source/New_York_City_police) while covering and participating in an Occupy protest at the New York Stock Exchange.[14][15] He wrote about his experience for *[The New Yorker](/source/The_New_Yorker)*.[16]

In 2015, Gessen co-edited *City by City: Dispatches from the American Metropolis*, which was named a "Best Summer Read of 2015" by *[Publishers Weekly](/source/Publishers_Weekly)*.[17]

In 2018, Gessen's second novel, *A Terrible Country*, was published. In March 2019, it was serialized on [BBC Radio 4](/source/BBC_Radio_4).[18]

Gessen wrote a non-fiction memoir about raising his son, titled *Raising Raffi: The First Five Years*, which was published in 2022.[19]

## Personal life

Gessen is married to the writer [Emily Gould](/source/Emily_Gould)[20] and was previously married when he arrived in New York City at age 22.[7][21] As of 2008[\[update\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Keith_Gessen&action=edit), he resided in [Clinton Hill, Brooklyn](/source/Clinton_Hill%2C_Brooklyn).[7] He has three siblings, Daniel, Philip, and [Masha](/source/Masha_Gessen).

## Bibliography

### Novels

- Gessen, Keith (2008). *[All the sad young literary men](/source/All_the_Sad_Young_Literary_Men)*. Penguin Books.

- — (2018). *A terrible country : a novel*. New York: Viking.

### Non-fiction

- Gessen, Keith, ed. (2010). *Diary of a very bad year : confessions of an anonymous hedge fund manager*.

- — (November 27, 2011). ["Central Booking"](https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/central-booking). News Desk. *The New Yorker*.[a]

- — (May 12, 2014). ["Waiting for war : can the country hold together?"](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/05/12/waiting-for-war-2). Letter from Ukraine. *The New Yorker*. **90** (12): 44–53.

- Gessen, Keith & Stephen Squibb, eds. (2015). *City by city : dispatches from the American metropolis*. New York: n + 1/Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

- Gessen, Keith (November 6, 2017). ["State of terror : a historian explains how Stalin turned Stalinist"](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/11/06/how-stalin-became-stalinist). *The New Yorker*. **93** (35): 62–70.[b]

- — (2022). *Raising Raffi : the first five years*. New York: Viking.

- — (April 25 – May 2, 2022). ["Demilitarized : the novelist Andrey Kurkov writes of a Ukrainian beekeeper at war with war"](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/04/25/a-ukrainian-novel-looks-between-the-lines-of-war). The Critics. Books. *The New Yorker*. **98** (10): 71–73.[c]

- — (September 5, 2022). ["Don't be like that : liberal parents, radical children, and the making of a literary masterpiece"](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/09/05/liberals-radicals-and-the-making-of-a-literary-masterpiece-ivan-turgenevs-fathers-and-children-slater-translation). The Critics. A Critic at Large. *The New Yorker*. **98** (27): 55–60.[d]

### Translations

- [Alexievich, Svetlana](/source/Svetlana_Alexievich) (2005). *Voices from Chernobyl*. Translated by Keith Gessen. Dalkey Archive Press.

- [Petrushevskaya, Ludmilla](/source/Ludmilla_Petrushevskaya) (2009). *There Once Lived a Woman Who Tried to Kill Her Neighbor's Baby: Scary Fairy Tales*. Selected and translated by Keith Gessen and Anne Summers. New York: Penguin Books.

- Medvedev, Kiril (2012). *It's no good*. Translated by Keith Gessen, Mark Krotov, Corey Mead, and Bela Shayevich. Ugly Duckling Press.

## Notes

1. **[^](#cite_ref-webonly_22-0)** Available on website only.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-23)** Online version is titled "How Stalin became Stalinist".

1. **[^](#cite_ref-24)** Online version is titled "A Ukrainian novel looks between the lines of war".

1. **[^](#cite_ref-25)** Online version is titled "Liberals, radicals, and the making of a literary masterpiece".

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-ColumbiaFaculty_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-ColumbiaFaculty_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-ColumbiaFaculty_1-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-ColumbiaFaculty_1-3) ["Keith Gessen | School of Journalism"](https://journalism.columbia.edu/faculty/keith-gessen). *journalism.columbia.edu*. Retrieved November 16, 2017.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** *U.S. Public Records Index* Vol 1 & 2 (Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), 2010.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["AGNI Online: Right of Return by Keith Gessen"](http://www.bu.edu/agni/fiction/print/2004/59-gessen.html). *www.bu.edu*. Retrieved November 16, 2017.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-newsday_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-newsday_4-1) Joanna Smith Rakoff. "Talking with Masha Gessen, *[Newsday](/source/Newsday)*, January 2, 2005.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** [Keith Gessen on Rediscovering Russia, "Big Think"](http://bigthink.com/ideas/1175) May 13, 2008

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Gabriel Sanders, "Faces Forward: Author Tells Tale of Her Grandmothers' Survival", *[Forward](/source/The_Forward)*, December 10, 2004

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-nytimes.com_7-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-nytimes.com_7-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-nytimes.com_7-2) Itzkoff, Dave (April 27, 2008). ["A Literary Critic Drops His Ax and Picks Up His Pen"](https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/27/fashion/27gessen.html). *The New York Times*. Retrieved May 7, 2010.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Wickett, Dan (March 6, 2005). ["Interview with Keith Gessen"](https://web.archive.org/web/20070612204527/http://www.breaktech.net/EmergingWritersForum/View_Interview.aspx?id=143). Emerging Writers' Forum. Archived from [the original](http://www.breaktech.net/EmergingWritersForum/View_Interview.aspx?id=143) on June 12, 2007. Retrieved June 27, 2007.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** Oates, Joyce Carol (May 1, 2008). ["Youth!"](http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2008/05/01/youth/). *The New York Review of Books*. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0028-7504](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0028-7504). Retrieved November 16, 2017.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** Neyfakh, Leon (November 15, 2007). ["No Surprises at National Book Awards; Jonathan Franzen Talks About Being 48"](https://observer.com/2007/11/no-surprises-at-national-book-awards-jonathan-franzen-talks-about-being-48/). *Observer*. Retrieved November 16, 2017.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** ["Is This Book Worth Getting?"](http://nymag.com/arts/books/features/46203/). *NYMag.com*. Retrieved November 16, 2017.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** D. Garner, [Here’s Why the Cookie Crumbled](https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/14/books/14book.html). July 13, 2010.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** ["Occupy and Space"](http://www.nplusonemag.com/occupy). *n+1*. January 5, 2012. Retrieved November 16, 2017.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** MiriMarkow (November 17, 2011), [*OccupyGessen*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUxiAv5TjsQ), [archived](https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/WUxiAv5TjsQ) from the original on December 21, 2021, retrieved November 16, 2017

1. **[^](#cite_ref-15)** ["Editors of new Verso book Occupy! arrested today at N17 protest"](http://www.versobooks.com/blogs/809-editors-of-new-verso-book-occupy-arrested-today-at-n17-protest). *Versobooks.com*. Retrieved November 16, 2017.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** Gessen, Keith (November 28, 2011). ["Central Booking"](https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/central-booking). *The New Yorker*. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0028-792X](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0028-792X). Retrieved November 16, 2017.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-17)** ["Best Summer Books, 2015 Publishers Weekly"](http://best-books.publishersweekly.com/pw/best-books/summer-reads-2015/nonfiction#book/book-2). *PublishersWeekly.com*. Retrieved November 16, 2017.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-BBC_Radio_4_18-0)** Writer: Keith Gessen; Reader: [Trevor White](/source/Trevor_White_(actor)); Abridged by: Jill Waters and Isobel Creed; Produced by Jill Waters (March 11, 2019). ["A Terrible Country"](https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0003579). *A Terrible Country*. BBC. [BBC Radio 4](/source/BBC_Radio_4). Retrieved March 15, 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-19)** Garner, Dwight (June 6, 2022). ["'Raising Raffi,' a Father's Lucid Book About a Chaotic Scene"](https://web.archive.org/web/20220806203615/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/06/books/review-raising-raffi-keith-gessen.html). *The New York Times*. Archived from [the original](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/06/books/review-raising-raffi-keith-gessen.html) on August 6, 2022. Retrieved June 7, 2022.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-20)** Hicklin, Aaron (December 14, 2014). ["Overstepping the bounds: how blogger Emily Gould has been oversharing"](https://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/dec/14/overstepping-bounds-blogger-emily-gould-oversharing). *The Observer*. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0029-7712](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0029-7712). Retrieved November 16, 2017.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-21)** Norris, Sarah (June 27 – July 3, 2008). ["Love and other indoor sports"](https://web.archive.org/web/20081231021158/http://www.downtownexpress.com/de_269/loveandother.html). *Downtown Express*. Vol. 21, no. 7. Community Media LLC. Archived from [the original](http://www.downtownexpress.com/de_269/loveandother.html) on December 31, 2008. Retrieved November 16, 2017. Born in Russia, [Gessen] grew up in Massachusetts, attended Harvard, and then moved to New York at age 22 with a wife, from whom he is now divorced.

## Further reading

**Critical studies and reviews of Gessen's work**

- Nixon, Burke (January 2023). ["The parenting pendulum"](https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/parenting-pendulum). *Commonweal*. **150** (1): 69–71.

## External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to [Keith Gessen](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Keith_Gessen).

- [*New York Inquirer* 2006 interview with Gessen about *n+1*](http://www.nyinquirer.com/nyinquirer/2006/11/an_interview_wi.html)

- [*Young Manhattanite* 2008 interview with Gessen](https://web.archive.org/web/20100202142528/http://youngmanhattanite.com/2008/08/ym-keith-gessen-q.html)

- [*New York Times* profile of Gessen](https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/27/fashion/27gessen.html), April 27, 2008

- ["Here’s Why the Cookie Crumbled"](https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/14/books/14book.html?8dpc) Dwight Garner, *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)*, July 13, 2010

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Keith Gessen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Gessen) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Gessen?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.