Andréï Arinouchkine

A lover of drawing since his earliest childhood, he painted his first picture at the age of twelve. It was a 3 x 2 m painting on wood that took him three years to complete, but which opened the doors to the Academy of Fine Arts in Minsk, where he was admitted at the age of 15. In the midst of the Cold War, he was forced to interrupt his studies to join the army. On his return, he resumed his studies whilst also working on an assembly line in a textile factory, but his desire to become an illustrator remained strong. The young Arinouchkine graduated in Minsk and managed to publish his first children’s books. Then, after the fall of communism, he worked for the Russian publisher AST, producing dozens of covers and illustrations for science fiction and children’s books.

‘See Paris and die,’ as the Russians say. And so, in the mid-1990s, he decided to come and try his luck in France. A short one-week stay and a tour of Parisian comic book publishers later, he signed with Casterman to adapt the traditional Russian fairy tale The Firebird, with Corbeyran writing the script. Then, in 2001, the same publisher released his sublime graphic novel *Sa majesté de nulle part*, based on a story by Gérard Moncomble. In 2003, Arinouchkine settled permanently in France, where he has lived ever since with his wife Svetlana and his son Alexandre.

His meeting with Tiburce Oger at Daniel Maghen’s led to the creation of the story Ewen. “I’ve always dreamt of creating a fantasy story with a realistic style,” says the author, who describes himself as “delighted to finally see the graphic novel published”.