Poor Folk

by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Poor Folk is Dostoyevsky’s first novel and one of the earliest explorations of social injustice through epistolary form. This annotated edition includes an original introduction, a reflective biography, and a cultural essay on its influence in literature and humanist philosophy.

Behind every closed door, there is a story of quiet suffering. Through an exchange of letters, two struggling souls find solace in words, clinging to dignity in a world that overlooks them. In Poor Folk, Dostoyevsky crafts an intimate and deeply affecting portrait of hardship, longing, and human resilience.

Poor Folk introduces the themes that would define Dostoyevsky’s greatest works: compassion for the outcast, the weight of poverty, and the fragile nature of hope. As his first novel, it marks the emergence of a literary voice that would forever change the course of literature, redefining how we understand the human soul.

At Other Minds Publishing, we present this edition as part of an ongoing artistic dialogue—to amplify how Dostoyevsky’s influence continues to shape literature, cinema, and artistic expression, inspiring new interpretations of his work across generations.