Michael Oliver-Semenov - Sunbathing in Siberia

Thanks to the archives and staff of one of Moscow’s museums, Marina Tsvetaeva; the poetry of Yevgeny Yevtushenko and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s The Gulag Archipelago – all so useful when researching this book. I also found the following websites invaluable during my fact-finding missions:

bbc.co.uk

independent.co.uk

siberiantimes.com

usinfo.ru

go2add.com

csmonitor.com

armscontrol.org

www.fas.org

state.gov

lonelyplanet.com

stolby.ru

ceuweekly.blogspot.ru

symbolic-mirage.blogspot.co.uk

memorial.krsk.ru

newworldencyclopedia.org

dommuseum.ru

rt.com

theday.co.uk

telegraph.co.uk

russiavotes.org

nytimes.com

forbes.com

metro.us

rferl.org

forbes.com

themoscownews.com

themoscowtimes.com

huffingtonpost.co.uk

theguardian.com

greenpeace.org

bellona.org

washingtonpost.com

projectavalon.net

perezhilton.com

For putting me up for the night or acting as a pillow or mattress, I would like to offer my most sincere thanks to Gaz, Alex Werner, Ryan, Brad, Guto, Ed, Mace, Sam, Ruth and Ed’s Crocodillo.

For looking at early chapters of this book I would like to thank Peter Brooks, Lynne Rees, Dad and Mali Evans.

For offering support, helping me out in a variety of other ways, and being nice when they could have been otherwise, I’d like to thank the following people and organisations: my mum, my dad, Lindsey and Jon, Siw Hughes, Parthian Books, Meic Birtwhistle of Trefenter, Susan and Etienne Evans of Abertridwr, JJ, Ruth Barnett, Chapter Arts Centre, Aeroflot, especially the pilots who could probably pilot a plane through hell and still land it safely, Russian Immigration, The Russian embassy in London, The British embassy in Moscow, Alun Burge, Alun’s neighbours, Evgeny Nikitin, everyone at Blown Magazine , Rachel Trezise for telling me ‘what not to write’, Zoë Brigley, Bill Rees, Katy Evans-Bush, Alan Perry, Jean Perry, Aida Birch, Amanda Birch, Siôn Tomos Owen, Siôn’s mum and dad, The Moscow Times , The Siberian Times , and everyone else who I can’t recall.

For giving me a place to sleep on a million occasions, generally saving my neck from ruin and death, and being a decent sort of fella, I offer blokeish manhugs to Torben Schacht. Without you, not only would it have been ten times harder moving to Siberia but I would have no cover for this book.

For their patience and supplying me with five different Russian visas, I offer huge thanks to realrussia.co.uk

I would like to offer extra special thanks to my wife, for being able to read my mind, general love and gooeyness, and inspiration; my mother and father-in-law, for their support, pelmeni , and for putting up with my Britishisms, and everyone I have met in Siberia this past year who have helped me forge a new life.

Lastly, I offer the biggest and bestest thanks to editor extraordinaire Susie Wild, for those nights in the Uplands, kicking me in the arse, and turning a pile of notes haphazardly written into… this. Without you, this whatever it is, wouldn’t be whatever it is.

Michael Oliver-Semenov was born in Ely, Cardiff, but now resides in central Siberia. Since ditching his career as a banking clerk in 1997 he has published words and poetry in a plethora of magazines, anthologies and journals worldwide, including Blown , The Morning Star , Orbis , Ten of the Best , Wales Arts Review , Mandala Review and Ink Sweat and Tears . He divides his time between growing vegetables at his family dacha, teaching English and writing for The Siberian Times .

http://thepoetmao.webs.com

The Old Surgery

Napier Street

Cardigan

SA43 1ED

www.parthianbooks.com

First published in 2014

© M.A. Oliver-Semenov 2014

All Rights Reserved

ISBN 978-1-910409-07-7 epub

ISBN 978-1-910409-08-4 mobi

Editor: Susie Wild

Cover design by Torben Schacht

This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.