Editing Isaac Babel (section)

===Early writings===
[[File:Isaac Babel 1908.jpg|thumb|right|Isaac Babel in 1908]]

In 1915, Babel graduated and moved to [[Saint Petersburg|Petrograd]], in defiance of laws restricting Jews from living outside the [[Pale of Settlement]]. Babel was fluent in French, besides Russian, Ukrainian and Yiddish, and his earliest works were written in French. However, none of his stories in that language have survived.

In St. Petersburg, Babel met [[Maxim Gorky]], who published some of Babel's stories in his literary magazine ''Letopis'' (''Летопись'', "Chronicle"). Gorky advised the aspiring writer to gain more life experience; Babel wrote in his autobiography, "I owe everything to that meeting and still pronounce the name of Alexey Maksimovich Gorky with love and admiration." One of his most famous semi-autobiographical short stories, "The Story of My Dovecote" (''История моей голубятни'', ''Istoriya moey golubyatni''), was dedicated to Gorky.

There is very little information about Babel's whereabouts during and after the [[October Revolution]]. According to one of his stories, "The Road" ("''Дорога''", "''Doroga''"), he served on the Romanian front until early December 1917. In his autobiography, Babel says he worked as a translator for the Petrograd [[Cheka]], likely in 1917.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Babel|first=Isaac|url=https://ruslit.traumlibrary.net/book/babel-ss04-01/babel-ss04-01.html|title=Исаак Эммануилович Бабель|publisher=Vremya|year=2005|isbn=5-9691-0154-0|pages=Autobiography section|language=Russian|quote=За это время я был солдатом на румынском фронте, потом служил в Чека, в Наркомпросе, в продовольственных экспедициях 1918 года, в Северной армии против Юденича, в Первой Конной армии, в Одесском губкоме, был выпускающим в 7-й советской типографии в Одессе, был репортером в Петербурге и в Тифлисе и проч.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Freidin|first=Gregory|title=Isaac Babel, Russian author|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Isaac-Babel|access-date=June 11, 2021|website=Britannica}}</ref> In March 1918 he worked in [[Saint Petersburg|Petrograd]] as a reporter for Gorky's [[Menshevik]] newspaper, ''[[Novaya Zhizn (Mensheviks)|Novaya zhizn]]'' (''Новая жизнь'', "''New Life''"). Babel continued publishing there until ''Novaya zhizn'' was forcibly closed on Lenin's orders in July 1918.

Babel later recalled, <blockquote>"My journalistic work gave me a lot, especially in the sense of material. I managed to amass an incredible number of facts, which proved to be an invaluable creative tool. I struck up friendships with morgue attendants, criminal investigators, and government clerks. Later, when I began writing fiction, I found myself always returning to these 'subjects', which were so close to me, in order to put character types, situations, and everyday life into perspective. Journalistic work is full of adventure."<ref>''The Complete Works of Isaac Babel'', page 486.</ref></blockquote>