Vladimir Medvedev was born in the Zabaikal region of Siberia but was brought up in Tajikistan, where he has spent most of his life. He has worked as a fitter, a newspaper correspondent, a photo reporter, a teacher in a village school, a laborer in a geological research group, and a literary editor. Medvedev is the author of numerous essays, novellas, and short stories published in literary magazines and a collection of short horror stories, Hunting with Kukuj (Limbus Press, St Pe- tersburg, 2007).

Medvedev’s recognition as a prose writer came with his novel Zahhak (ArsisBooks, Moscow, 2017) that was shortlisted for The Yasnaya Polyana Award and The Russian Booker Prize 2017. The novel was translated into eight languages, including English, French and German.