Markiyan Kamysh (Ukrainian: Маркіян Камиш, born 19 October 1988) is a Ukrainian author, known for his excursions into the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.
Markiyan Kamysh | |
---|---|
Born | Kiev, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union | 19 October 1988
Occupation | Author |
Language | Ukrainian |
Genre | Ukrainian literature |
Notable works | Stalking the Atomic City: Life among the decadent and the depraved of Chornobyl |
Kamysh is the only person who represents the Chernobyl underground in literature.[1][2][3][better source needed] His father was a Chernobyl liquidator, nuclear physicist, and design engineer of the Institute for Nuclear Research who died in 2003.[4] From 2005-2009, Kamysh studied history at the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, but dropped out before graduating to become a writer. From 2010–2021, he was an illegal stalker of multiple areas in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Zone of Alienation, including Pripyat, smaller surrounding villages, and the power plant itself.[1][5][6][7] In 2022, after the Russian invasion began, he joined the Ukrainian military.[8]
Stalking the Atomic City: Life Among the Decadent and the Depraved of Chornobyl is a book written by Kamysh about his experiences illegally exploring the exclusion zone.[9] The book has been available online since spring 2014.[10] TOP10 books of 2019 according to La Repubblica as one of the "Constellations of the ten books that best reflect the spirit of the times".[11] The Guardian called it a “remarkable book”.[12]