Login
Login

Eugene Yelchin

{{short description|American writer (born 1956)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2020}}

{{Infobox writer

|name = Eugene Yelchin

|native_name = Евгений Аркадьевич Ельчин

|image = Yelchin photo 2018.jpg

|caption = Yelchin in 2018

|birth_name = Yevgeny Arkadievich Yelchin

|birth_date = {{birth date and age|1956|10|18}}

|birth_place = Leningrad, Soviet Union

|death_date =

|death_place =

|occupation = Illustrator, writer, designer

|nationality = Russian-American

|education = Design, Leningrad Institute of Theater Arts, 1979
Film, University of Southern California

|period =

|genre = Books For Young Readers (as author/illustrator); Theater and Film (as designer)

|subject =

|relatives = Anton Yelchin (nephew)

|awards =

}}

Eugene Yelchin (born Yevgeny Arkadievich Yelchin, {{Langx|ru|link=no|Евгений Аркадьевич Ельчин}}, born October 18, 1956) is a Russian-American artist best known as an illustrator and writer of books for children. His novel Breaking Stalin's Nose was awarded a Newbery Honor in 2012.{{cite web

|url=http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/newberymedal/newberyhonors/newberymedal#2010s

|title=Newbery Medal and Honor Books, 1922–present

|publisher=American Library Association

|accessdate=July 2, 2012

|archive-date=October 24, 2011

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111024135429/http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/newberymedal/newberyhonors/newberymedal.cfm#2010s

|url-status=dead

}} The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge he co-authored with M. T. Anderson was named National Book Award Finalist for Young People's Literature in 2018.

His nephew was actor Anton Yelchin.

Education and early career

Yelchin was born in Leningrad, Russia, to a Jewish family.{{cite web |url=http://www.eugeneyelchin.com/biography.htm |title=Eugene Yelchin |website=www.eugeneyelchin.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050111225200/http://www.eugeneyelchin.com/biography.htm |archive-date=2005-01-11}} In 1979, Yelchin graduated from Leningrad State Theater Academy.

From 1979 to 1983 he designed sets and costumes for leading Russian theater companies including Alexandrinsky (Pushkin's) Theater and Akimov Comedy Theater in Leningrad.

In 1979–80, with a group of peers from the Theater Academy he co-founded Tomsk Children's Theater in Siberia.

In 1983, Yelchin emigrated to the United States. In 1988, Yelchin graduated from the Southern California Film School in Los Angeles and began directing TV commercials and illustrating advertising campaigns.

Books for children

In 2006 at the Society of Children's Books Writers and Illustrators conference Yelchin received Tomie DePaola Illustration Award and began writing and illustrating books for children.

His books have been published by Scholastic Press, Henry Holt, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Roaring Brook Press, Candlewick Press, Clarion Books and Harcourt. They were translated into French, Italian, Japanese, Russian, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Turkish, Romanian, Estonian, and Polish.

= Selected awards =

In 2018 The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge he co-authored with Matthew Tobin Anderson was named National Book Award Finalist.

In 2012 Breaking Stalin's Nose, a middle grade novel that he wrote and illustrated received the Newbery Honor.

In 2010 his illustrations for The Rooster Prince of Breslov received a National Jewish Book Award.

In 2017 his novel The Haunting of Falcon House received Society of Children's Books Writers and Illustrators’ Golden Kite Award.

In 2011 Won Ton: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku that he illustrated received Society of Children's Books Writers and the Golden Kite Award.

Bibliography

=As author/illustrator=

  • The Genius Under the Table. 2021. Candlewick Press {{ISBN|978-1-536-21552-6}}
  • Spy Runner. 2019. Henry Holt and Company {{ISBN|978-1-250-12081-6}}
  • The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge(with M.T. Anderson). 2018. Candlewick Press {{ISBN|978-0-7636-9822-5}}
  • Pip & Pup. 2018. HarperCollins Publishers {{ISBN|978-1-62779-394-0}}
  • Spring Hare. 2017. Henry Holt and Company {{ISBN|978-1-62779-392-6}}
  • The Haunting of Falcon House. 2016. Henry Holt and Company {{ISBN|978-0-8050-9845-7}}
  • Arcady's Goal. 2014. Henry Holt and Company {{ISBN|978-0-8050-9844-0}}
  • Breaking Stalin's Nose. 2011. Henry Holt and Company {{ISBN|978-0-80-509216-5}}
  • The Next Door Bear. 2011. HarperCollins Publishers {{ISBN|978-0-06-125925-8}}
  • Heart of a Snowman. 2009. HarperCollins Publishers {{ISBN|978-0-06-125926-5}}
  • Ghost Files. 2008. HarperCollins Publishers {{ISBN|978-0-06-128395-6}}

=As illustrator=

  • The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge 2018. Candlewick {{ISBN|978-0763698225}}
  • The Rooster Who Would Not Be Quiet! 2017. Scholastic Press {{ISBN|978-0-545-72288-9}}
  • Elephant in the Dark. 2015. Scholastic Press. {{ISBN|978-0-545-63670-4}}
  • Crybaby. 2015. Henry Holt and Company {{ISBN|978-0-8050-8974-5}}
  • Won Ton and Chopstick. 2015. Henry Holt and Company {{ISBN|978-0-8050-9987-4}}
  • Seeds, Bees, Butterflies, and More! 2013. Henry Holt and Company {{ISBN|978-0-8050-9211-0}}
  • Dog Parade. 2011. Harcourt Children's Books {{ISBN|978-0-15-206690-1}}
  • Won Ton, A Cat Tale Told in Haiku. 2011. Henry Holt and Company {{ISBN|978-0-8050-8995-0}}
  • The Rooster Prince Of Breslov. 2010. Clarion Books Houghton Mifflin Harcourt {{ISBN|978-0-618-98974-4}}
  • Seven Hungry Babies. 2010. Atheneum Books For Young Readers {{ISBN|978-1-4169-5402-6}}
  • The Cobbler's Holiday Or Why Ants Don't Wear Shoes. 2008. Roaring Brook Press {{ISBN|978-1-59643-234-5}}
  • Who Ate All The Cookie Dough? 2008. Henry Holt and Company {{ISBN|978-0-8050-8267-8}}
  • The House of a Million Pets. 2007. Henry Holt and Company {{ISBN|978-0-8050-7974-6}}

Paintings

Yelchin's paintings and drawings have been exhibited along with former Soviet non-conformist artists

  • 2002: "Russian Revolutions: Generations of Russian Jewish Avant-Garde Artists” at the Mizel Center for Arts and Culture
  • 2006: “Territories of Terror: Mythologies and Memories of the Gulag in Contemporary Russian-American Art” at Boston University (2006)
  • 2010: "Shattered Utopia: Russian Art of the Soviet and Post-Soviet Periods" at Fort Collins Museum of Contemporary Art

Yelchin is a member of the Jewish Artists Initiative of Southern California. His paintings and drawings are represented by Sloane Gallery of Contemporary Russian Art.

Other works

Yelchin created original storyboards for the popular Coca-Cola Polar Bears campaign{{cite web|url=http://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/coke-lore-polar-bears|title=Coca Cola Company|access-date=July 9, 2013|archive-date=October 22, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131022015144/http://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/coke-lore-polar-bears|url-status=dead}} and designed characters for several animated features including 2012 Oscar winner Rango directed by Gore Verbinski (2012 Oscar for Best Animated Feature).

{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0384766/fullcredits|title=IMDB|website=IMDb}}

Awards and honors

References

{{reflist}}

External links

{{Portal|Children's literature}}

  • {{official }} with linked gallery, [http://eugeneyelchinbooks.com Books for children], [http://eugeneyelchindesign.com Design for film, TV, & advertising], and more
  • [http://sloanegalleryofart.com/artists.html Sloane Gallery Of Art]
  • {{LCAuth|n96050686|Eugene Yelchin|15|ue}}

Interviews:

  • [http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2018/06/05/review-of-the-day-the-assassination-of-brangwain-spurge-by-m-t-anderson/ Bird, Elizabeth. "The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge by M.T. Anderson and Eugene Yelchin." Fuse 8, June 2018.]
  • [https://www.shelf-awareness.com/max-issue.html?issue=296#m630 Anderson, M.T.. "M.T. Anderson and Eugene Yelchin: Finding a Common Language." Shelf Awareness. June 2018]
  • [https://www.hbook.com/2018/05/authors-illustrators/book-changed-life-dangerous-book/ Yelchin, Eugene. "The Book That Changed My Life: A Dangerous Book." The Horn Book May, 2018]
  • [https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-authors/article/77960-in-conversation-m-t-anderson-and-eugene-yelchin.html Anderson, M.T.. "In Conversation: M.T. Anderson and Eugene Yelchin." Publishers Weekly. September, 2018]
  • [https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-authors/article/64205-q-a-with-eugene-yelchin.html Goddu, Krystyna Poray. "Q & A with Eugene Yelchin" Publishers Weekly. October, 2014]
  • [http://wgrclc.blogspot.com/2013/05/an-interview-with-eugene-yelchin-by.html Lushchevska, Oksana. "An interview with Eugene Yelchin" WGRCLC Blog. May, 2013]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yelchin, Eugene}}

Category:1956 births

Category:American children's book illustrators

Category:American children's writers

Category:American horror writers

Category:Jewish American artists

Category:Jewish American children's writers

Category:Soviet nonconformist art

Category:Painters from Saint Petersburg

Category:Writers from Saint Petersburg

Category:Living people

Category:Soviet emigrants to the United States

Category:American people of Russian-Jewish descent

Category:21st-century American Jews

Category:Newbery Honor winners