Before retiring from the literary world and relinquishing all copyright to his work in 2003, Kirill Medvedev had published two collections of poetry with a traditional publishing house. His poems are autobiographical free verse, unusual in Russia, and were dismissed by some critics as not really poetry. Medvedev's poetry - casual, often explicitly political, irreverent - fiercely diagnose the banality and disease of Putin-era Russia. Edited and introduced by n+1 co-founder Keith Gessen, It's No Good includes selected poems from Kirill Medvedev's books of poetry and subsequent online publications, as well as his most significant essays: 'My Fascism' (on the failure of post-Soviet Russian liberalism, politically and culturally); 'Literature Will Be Tested' (on the attractions and dangers of the 'new sincerity' in Russian letters); 'Dmitry Kuzmin: An Essay-Memoir' (a detailed memoir and analysis of the work of the 1990s Moscow poet, publisher, and impresario Kuzmin, and what his activity represents). As always, they are published without the author's permission.
Born in Moscow in 1975, Kirill Medvedev has recently emerged as one of the most exciting, unpredictable voices on the Russian literary scene. Widely published and acclaimed as a poet, he is also is an activist for labor and a member of the Russian Socialist movement Vpered [Forward]. He contributes essays regularly to Chto Delat , and other opposition magazines. His small press, The Free Marxist Press [SMI], has recently released his translations of Pasolini, Eagleton, and Goddard, as well as numerous books at the intersection of literature, art and politics, including a collection of his own essays. It's No Good is Medvedev's first book in English.
