In everything that the journalist and writer Natalya Astakhova does, there is immeasurable love and devotion to her native Crimea. She lives this special world, full of legends and eventful turbulent multi-thousand-year history.
When talking about a person, sometimes you try to give a brief description, noting only a few of the qualities most inherent in him. In relation to Natalya Vasilyevna Astakhova, this is devotion, loyalty, consistency. Lives and works in his homeland - the Crimean Peninsula. The case to which she has dedicated herself is a local journalist. The sphere of realization of literary abilities is fantastic. Astakhova never betrayed her native land, profession, or creative genre in anything. Not a single step back or sideways.
Needed where was born
The starting date in the biography of Natalya Vasilievna Astakhova is March 29, 1953. Hometown - Bakhchisarai. He currently lives in Simferopol. She graduated from the Moscow State University, Faculty of Journalism. During the Soviet period, she worked in the editorial offices of local newspapers. Since 1985 - an employee of the authoritative and largest newspaper on the peninsula "Krymskaya Pravda".
Natalia Astakhova is known in Crimea and beyond, as the author of emotional texts and biting publications on current topics. She is a columnist, journalist, editor of the department in the print edition, to which she has devoted more than 30 years of active and fruitful work. In 2007 she was awarded the title "Honored Journalist of the ARC".
In parallel with journalism, Natalya Vasilievna is engaged in literary work. The first publications of the writer date back to 1979: the realistic stories "Fog", "My grandfather" and "Apricots" in the collection of young Crimean authors "Spring honey collection". In subsequent periods, several dozen bright prose works of small form were written in the genres of romantic realism and fantasy. They were published in regional, Ukrainian and all-Russian publications. Such as the Moscow magazine "Soviet Literature" (stories from the cycle "Caution, they call you"), literary almanacs "The Seagull" (the story "Violet ordinary") and "Golden Pegasus".
The most popular stories and stories have been translated into French, Spanish, Greek and English, and are also included in the author's collection Letters from the Earth (1992). In the same year, Natalia Astakhova was admitted to the Writers' Union of Russia. A review of her work and selected works of the writer were included in the directory "Who's Who in Crimean Science Fiction" (2004) and "Encyclopedia of Crimean Science Fiction" (2018), published by the Simferopol publishing houses "Tavria" and "Tavrida".
Natalya Vasilievna managed to pass on her professional passion and love for literature to her children. My son Ilya, after graduating from the Ukrainian Academy of Printing with a degree in publishing and editing, works for a local Internet publication. Daughter Julia currently teaches at Washington State Research University.
With a newspaper for life
“The newspaper is life itself. How many years we have been making a newspaper, as long as it has been making us. We would be different without the newspaper. But she would have been different without us”. This is what a well-known journalist said about her work in Krymskaya Pravda in an interview with the Krymsky Echo correspondent. Astakhova came to the print edition, which became for her “not a job, but a way of life,” in the mid-1980s. As part of the editorial office, she has passed a good third of the 100-year journey of the authoritative and largest newspaper on the peninsula (in 2018, KP celebrated its centenary). Shoulder to shoulder with her colleagues Natalya Vasilievna went through "fire, water and copper pipes." We have always been collectively responsible for the publication of anti-Tatar, anti-Ukrainian and anti-Islamic materials. Objectively covered the events of the Crimean spring of 2014. The news that Ukraine had added the website of the publication to the list of prohibited ones (2017) was firmly greeted.
Principled journalists rarely manage to avoid conflicts, they are often required to refute them, and for refusal they are persecuted. This cup also did not pass Astakhova. It happened in 2008, after the publication of the article "Brought by the Wind". In an emotional and rather harsh form, she criticized the actions of the Crimean Tatars to seize land. Supporters of the Tatar Mejlis accused the author of inciting ethnic hatred. The public organization "Bizim Kyrym" demanded a refutation of the information contained in the article. The persecution of publicists and the trial continued for more than two years, until a decision was made: to refuse to satisfy the claim against the newspaper "Krymskaya Pravda" and personally against the journalist Natalya Astakhova. The insults and threats against Natalya Vasilievna and her family did not pass without leaving a trace: they brought the death of an elderly sick mother closer and affected her son's career.
Whatever her authorial position turned out to be for Astakhova, the motivation for engaging in journalism was always the words of V. A. Bobashinsky: “Go, work. And try to match. The editor-in-chief of Krymskaya Pravda did not mean at all that it was necessary to adapt to some standards (after all, in Soviet times the newspaper was a party publication, in the 1990s it was Ukrainian). Vladimir Alexandrovich, who gave the newspaper 43 years, spoke of professionalism and dedication to his work. In the editorial office, he was idolized, in the truest sense of the word. There were even paraphrased sayings about God in use: Bob won't give out, the pig won't eat; not a candle for Bob, not a damn poker … And Astakhova went to work. And it did.
Fantasy Crimea
It is possible to characterize the style of Natalia Astakhova's literary creativity by quoting the famous Crimean writer, poetess and journalist S. V. Yagupov: "Actually, I do not write science fiction, but romantic and realistic works with fantastic assumptions."
In literary circles, it is generally accepted that Crimean science fiction, as a special genre, "emerged from the naval jacket of Green's captain Gray." In honor of the story of the famous prose writer "Fandango", the almanac of the local creative association of writers, the Crimean Science Fiction Club, was named. But along the path of romantic realism A. S. Green today is far from all. Someone writes in imitation of Western or Russian genre models. Others turn to humorous or mystical fiction. N. V. Astakhova belongs to the galaxy of Crimean science fiction writers, representing a separate direction of the genre (which was launched in 1977 by Svetlana Yagupova's story "The Green Dolphin"). Fantastic realism. These are literary stories that lie at the intersection of science fiction, fantasy and a detached "urban fairy tale".
Natalia Astakhova's works have been published in three anthologies:
- "Fantavry" (the word confluence of FANTASTASTAVriya) is a landmark historical collection that presents the world with the masters of a special romantic school of Crimean science fiction writers. A series of short stories under the general heading "Beware, they are calling you" was published in the first issue (1983). The 2015 edition includes the story "The Sign of a Hero".
- Anthology "Femi-Fan" unites Russian authors of science fiction - women. Their view of the universe, thoughts and worries about the fate of our planet and its inhabitants. The creativity of the Crimean writer is represented by the stories “Heiress on the curve”, “Assistant to mules from Klava boulevard”.
- The almanac of Russian non-traditional fiction "Fire in the cradle" includes the story "Bread for the Accidental Traveler." The publication demonstrates various writing principles and searches of young writers of the creative propaganda association "Variant".
A separate author's edition of N. A. Astakhova - a book of fantastic stories "Letters from the Earth" - Moscow, "Text", 1992.
Critics note that fiction by Natalia Astakhova is characterized by soft humor, an ironic view of the world and its characters. Emotionally rich and highly artistic texts tell about the Crimean peninsula - its past and present, as well as a probable and absolutely incredible future. The writer herself speaks about her author's credo with her characteristic humor and irony: “You cannot hide in the text”.
