Kushner, Aleksandr Semenovich

Alexander Kushner, . poet, . author of poetry books "The first impression" 1962, . "Night Watch" of 1966, . "Signs" 1969, . "Letter" 1974, . "Direct Speech" 1975, . "The Voice" 1978, . "Tauride Garden" 1984, . "Day Dreams" 1985, . "Hedge" 1988, . "Night Music" 1991, . "In the dim star," 1994, . "Yarrow" 1998.,
. In addition, his articles on Russian poetry and essays included in his book "Apollo in the Snow" 1991 and "Yarrow" 1998.
. Send as three books of selected poems Kushner "Canvas" 1981, "Poems" (with a foreword by DSLikhachev) 1986, "Favorites" (with a foreword by Joseph Brodsky) 1997.
. Lyrics Kushner translated into English (the book A
. Kushner "Apollo in the snow" 1991, Farras, Straus and Giroux, New-York; second edition -1992, Harvill, London), Italian (the book Alexander Kushner "La poesia di San Pietroburgo", Milano, 1998), the Dutch (book "Vier petersburgers" I. Annenski, O. Mandelstam, A. Koesjner, J. Brodski, 1996Amsterdam), as well as German, Czech, French, Hebrew, Bulgarian, Japanese, etc.. languages.
Alexander Kushner was born September 14, 1936 in Leningrad. Lives in St. Petersburg. He graduated in 1959, the Philological Faculty of the State Pedagogical Institute. Herzen and the ten years he taught at the school Russian language and literature. Published since 1956. Member of the Writers' Union since 1965, member of the PEN Club (1987).
Science fiction "Northern Palmira" 1995, the State Prize of Russia in 1996, the Pushkin Prize of the German stock Alfred Topfer 1999.
Likhachev wrote about A. Kushner: "Kouchner - a poet of life in all its manifestations. And this is one of the most attractive features of his poetry. "
Lydia Ginzburg: "Contrary to the prevailing tradition of lyric Kushner writes about happy love. Lyrics Kouchner told the happiness of life and not reduced for him anxiety. They carried out the interrelatedness of life-affirming and tragic. "
. Joseph Brodsky: "Alexander Kushner - one of the finest lyric poets of XX century, . and his name destined to stand among the names, . dear to the heart of every, . whose native language is Russian ... Poetics Kouchner is, . certainly, . combination of poetics "harmonic schools and acmeism ..,
. Verses Kouchner inherent moderation of tone, the lack of hysteria, broadcast applications, nervous gestures. Rather, it is dry, where else would fuming, ironic, where another would have despaired. Poetics Kouchner, speaking briefly, poetics stoicism "
XX century in Russia was marked by great catastrophes. Therefore, the second half of the century, Alexander Kushner believes that awareness of the tragic experience and some conclusions from it - that's the main thing that makes sense of his poetry. Complaints to life, its absurdity, as opposed to the romantic poet, the crowd seemed to him deeply archaic, inefficient. You're not satisfied with life, to claim a universe, you dream of "return ticket creator - nothing could be simpler: millions of" dead on the cheap, "as M. - gladly would have swapped with you lot, time and place. XX century in Russia taught man (and poet) cherish the simple things: the warmth of the steam heating, . linen, . books on the bookshelf, . conversation with a friend on the phone, . Women's smile - all at any moment can take away and took away thousands of people,
. The question is not whether there is any meaning in life and whether or not to live, and how to live this life with dignity, to realize, in spite of that, their ability. One form of freedom, manifested to man (and poetry) in the XX century - is an intellectual (and poetic) understanding of the tragedy, overcoming it, the ability to return the soul, "dying in the best shape."
. Poetry contraindicated abstraction, . realistic and concrete poetry, . - In this sense, Alexander Kushner important experience of his poetry teacher Annenskogo I., . Mandelstam, . as, . their sympathy for the ordinary man, . "old Estonians", . "ordinary rider",
. Here A. Kouchner organically close to the orientation of these poets to European cultural achievements, "yearning for world culture."
Kushner repeatedly wrote in his essay says, in verses of poetry in the presence of life itself. Someone took care of that so tempting and brightly shining spring clouds, so luxuriantly blooming lilacs, so rhythmic noise waves, meant so much earthly love. Poetry - not the invention of the poet: the poet retrieves it from the world of chaos, from the raw material of life, voiced and enshrines it in words.
. With regard to formal verse problems, . Kushner is committed to the Russian rhymed, . regular verse, . possibility of which (especially, . intonation) is far from exhausted, . infinitely varied (the new Russian poetry young, . significantly younger than their European sisters, . has only three centuries),
. And another important point: Considering the poetic epic, . epic form, . including the narrative poem, with its intonation and premeditated plot outdated genre, . superseded by the prose of Tolstoy, . Dostoevsky, . Chekhov, . Proust, etc., . Kushner has focused on a book of poetry as a new and very productive genre of lyric poetry,
. The book of poems, bypassing the epic, the poet gives a chance today to create the most comprehensive, meaningful, in fact, impressive picture of contemporary life. The lyrics - the soul of art, in the direction of poetry for several centuries, moving all the arts (not just poetry, but prose, and painting and music), poetry is the guardian of the interests of a private person, she - his defender in the inhuman world. And it is - also one of the main lessons taught by a man (and poet) in a tragic XX century.