The article examines non-fiction as a significant part of the contemporary literature. The specifics of the use of the term, the place and role of this type of literature in Russian literature of the 21st century are shown. The reasons for the active development of non-fiction are analyzed, and their close connection with the “perestroika” of the 1990s is set down. The material for the study is non-fiction works awarded the National Literary Prize Big Book which are marking out as a specific part of contemporary Russian prose. An analysis of the works in this group makes it possible to establish the relationship between fiction and non-fiction of various themes and genres in this group; and to show how this relationship is changing in the first quarter of the 21st century. The article identifies the dominant type of non-fiction work in the group under consideration – the biography of the writer. A comparison was made of all the books in writers’ biographies genre awarded the Big Book Prize. The specific content is analyzed in relation to the unique personality and fate of the central character. The article presents writers’ biographies as a specific literary and, more broadly, historical-cultural pheno­menon. Other works awarded the Big Book Prize were also examined. The charac­teristic features of the content and poetics have been identified and systematized. A reasonable assumption has been made that the role and place of non-fiction literature will increase in the coming years.