Dmitrii L'vovich Bykov was born on 20 December 1967 in Moscow, into the family of Lev Miseevich Zibeltrude and Natalia Iosifovna Bykova. The parents soon divorced and the child was brought up by his mother, a school teacher of Russian Language and Literature.

Dmitrii graduated from the Journalist Faculty of the Moscow State University and since 1985 has worked in Sobesednik Magazine. A member of the Writers’ Union since 1991, he has worked for or been published in almost all Moscow weekly and several daily newspapers.

He is the author of essays, literary and polemical articles that were published in numerous journals and newspapers. Dmitrii Bykov has published five novels and six books of poetry, as well as three books of articles and fairy tales. He is one of the most remarkable figures of modern Russian literary life.