Ivan Bunin (1870–1953) was a poet, novelist, and celebrated author of such short masterpieces as “The Gentleman from San Francisco.” Early on Chekhov befriended him, and later Bunin’s novel The Village brought him in touch with Maxim Gorky. Among Russian writers, Bunin was the first to receive the Nobel Prize (1933). Forced to flee after the revolution, he immigrated to France, and his many love affairs were portrayed in the film His Wife’s Diary. Bunin’s work was finally allowed in Soviet Russia during the Khrushchev thaw of the 1960s.
WORKS THAT HAVE APPEARED IN NARRATIVE:
- The Gentleman from San Francisco, a short story, in Stories of the Week: 2010–2011