Yevgeny Aleksandrovich Yevtushenko (born 1932) is a Soviet and Russian poet and novelist, essayist, dramatist, screenwriter, actor, editor, and film director.
Yevtushenko was one of the authors politically active during the Khrushchev Thaw (Khrushchev declared a cultural "Thaw" that allowed some freedom of expression). In 1961 he wrote what would become perhaps his most famous poem, Babiyy Yar, in which he denounced the Soviet distortion of historical fact regarding the Nazi massacre of the Jewish population of Kiev in September 1941, as well as the anti-Semitism still widespread in the Soviet Union. The usual Soviet policy in relation to the Holocaust in Russia was to describe it as general atrocities against Soviet citizens, and to avoid mentioning that it was a genocide of the Jews. Yevtushenko was the most extensively travelled Soviet poet during the 1960's, possessing an amazing capability to balance between moderate criticism of Soviet regime, which gained him popularity in the West, and, as noted by some, a strong Marxist-Leninist ideological stance, which allegedly proved his loyalty to Soviet authorities. Critics differ on the stature of Yevtushenko in the literature world, with "most Western intellectuals and many Russian scholars extoling him as the greatest writer of his generation, the voice of Soviet life."
Others, however, notably Russian critics like Patricia Pollock Brodsky take issue with the interpretation that Yevtushenko has been persecuted by the Russian government.Tomas Venclova assertsin his 1991 essay that few in the Russian literary community consider his work worthy of serious study.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yevgeny_Yevtushenko
Yevgeny Yevtushenko, the Russian poet, took part in a three-day presentation of his work at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury in April 1992.
From the New York Times of April 26, 1992, "The first event will be a concert on Wednesday at 1 P.M., when the Manhattan String Quartet will perform in Ives Auditorium. The ensemble will be accompanied by a poetry reading and discussion with Mr. Yevtushenko of the music of Dmitri Shostakovich. The two men were close friends, and the composer used several of Mr. Yevtushenko's poems, including "Babi Yar," as themes for his work. The poet will conduct a town meeting on the current crisis in Russia from 8 to 10 Wednesday evening.
Another concert will be held on Thursday at 8 P.M., and Mr. Yevtushenko's film, "Stalin's Funeral," will be screened on Friday at 3:30 P.M."
1st ed
A John Macrae book.
Poems translated from the Russian
Features: Inscribed by author to Phil and Ginny Steinkraus
