Gary Shteyngart

Critically acclaimed author Gary Shteyngart has gained international recognition for his satirical and humorous works of fiction. Born in 1972 in Leningrad, USSR (now Saint Petersburg, Russia), Shtyngart immigrated to the United States with his family in 1979. After graduating from Hunter College with an MFA in creative writing in 2001, Shtyngart published his debut novel, The Russian Debutante's Handbook, the following year. Infused with biting satire and dark humor, the book received widespread praise for its incisive portrayal of the immigrant experience. It was a finalist for the Stephen Crane Award for First Fiction and the National Jewish Book Award.

Shtyngart followed up his debut with the novels Absurdistan (2006) and Super Sad True Love Story (2010), both well-received by critics and readers alike. He published Little Failure: A Memoir in 2014 and Our Country Friends in 2020. In addition to his novels, Shtyngart has also written for publications including The New Yorker, The New York Times, and Travel + Leisure. He has received numerous accolades for his work, including the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction and the Jewish Book Council's Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature. Shtyngart is a professor of creative writing at Columbia University's School of the Arts, where he has taught since 2007.