The Priest and the Worker. Construction Battalion

Sergei Kaledin (b. 1949), prose writer. Born on August 28 in Moscow, into a family of engineers. He was raised by his mother, a Turkologist translator, later a member of the Writers’ Union, who had a great influence on the future writer. After finishing school, he entered the Institute of Communications, which he left after the first year, realizing it was not his calling. He joined the army, choosing the construction battalion of his own accord, where there was less ideological indoctrination. He served in Angarsk. After the army he worked at many jobs: carpenter, mechanic, grave-digger at a cemetery. In 1972 he entered the Maxim Gorky Literary Institute, in the criticism department. After studying for several years, he transferred from full-time to correspondence study. In 1978, when it came time to defend his diploma, Kaledin was on Sakhalin doing temporary work, so he asked his wife to prepare a critical article for the defense. Returning, he learned that the article had not been accepted, and then hurriedly wrote the novella "Smirennoe kladbishche", which became his diploma work and was successfully defended. In 1979 he graduated from the institute. The author offered "Smirennoe kladbishche" to various publishers for several years, but only in 1987 did the magazine "Novy Mir" decide to publish it. The novella was a sensational success. Having become известным, the author in the same year published the chronicle novel "Corridor", which included "Cuckoo", "Gleb Bogdyshev’s Odd Job" and other novellas. In 1988 the novella "Construction Battalion" was published and also attracted readers’ attention. In 1990 the director of the Leningrad Maly Drama Theatre, L. Dodin, staged a play based on this novella, which was a great success during the theatre’s tours in Russia and other countries. In 1991 the writer’s new novella, "The Priest and the Worker", was published. Kaledin’s last novella, "Tahana Merkazit" (which in Hebrew means "Central Bus Station"), appeared in "Kontinent" in 1996. Kaledin lives and works in Moscow.