Boris Ryzhy (1974-2001)

A poet whose death is often discussed more than his life or work. Just shy of joining the Club of 27, but only by a little. In September 2001, Boris Ryzhy would have turned 27, but in March, he took his own life. From his poem “Завещание” (Testament): “Договоримся так: когда умру, ты крест поставишь над моей могилой”: let’s agree on this: when I die, you’ll place a cross over my grave.

Boris Ryzhy Documentary

More about Ryzhy’s life (and the reasons behind his early death) in the documentary by Aliona van der Horst (2009, 59 mins). Introduction (2 mins) below (with music by Beirut); see also this one (1 min).

Full version available at vpro.nl, on the director’s website, or (for just 5 euros) at idfa.nl. Aliona van der Horst also made Love is Potatoes (2017); see trailer (2 mins), watch on 2doc.nl, and there’s also DocTalks (22 mins).

For more about and by Борис Рыжий, see Поэт Борис Рыжий, Сентиментальное путешествие на Вторчермет (19 mins), Борис Рыжий (2006) (18 mins), and this album from Фотоальбом (2013, 3 mins).

Performances of Boris Ryzhy’s poetry

Ryzhy’s poetry can be read at стихи.ру and поэтика.рф.

On YouTube, many poems can be listened to; sometimes there’s even something to watch.

• Померкли очи голубые (1999)
• Приобретут всеевропейский лоск (1998)
• Пока я спал, повсюду выпал снег (1997)
• Я в эту зиму как-то странно жил (1996)
• Прогулка с мальчиком (1995)

In 2020, Irina Gorbacheva (Ирина Горбачёва) recited Море from a balcony, and also see this Джойс (Проект Кинопоэзия, 2019). For musical adaptation, the choice fell on rapper Хаски (Husky).

Хаски feat. Борис Рыжий
(GQ Russia, 2017, 1 min)

Boris Ryzhy’s poems set to music

Other musicians have also worked with Ryzhy’s words. Listen and watch, among others, Vladimir Kirkin (Пока я спал, повсюду выпал снег), Sergey Nikitin (Качели), and the band Molchat Doma. The lyrics of Sudno / Судно (2019) are drawn from Эмалированное судно (1997). Finally, here is (made with) Настоящая любовь (by Гoголем, 2020).

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Last updated November 17, 2020