Yevtushenko is not only a poet but also a novelist, filmmaker and professor of literature and cinema. He was born in Siberia, where his ancestors were sent into exile at the end of the 19th century. A spokesman for greater artistic freedom in the Soviet Union, Yevtushenko was once referred to as "the head of the intellectual juvenile delinquents" and was expelled from school for disobedience in 1948 and in 1957 from the Literary Institute for "individualism."
His 1961 poem "Babi Yar," a denunciation of both Nazi and Russian anti-Semitism, brought him international recognition and inspired Russian composer Dimitri Shostakovich to write his Symphony No. 13 (Babi Yar). The poem was not published in Russia until 1984.
Yevtushenko is an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and was awarded the American Liberties Medallion of the American Jewish Committee in 1991. He divides his time between Russia and the United States, where he teaches poetry at Queens College, N.Y., and the University of Tulsa.
You can see and hear this remarkable presentation, "There Are No Fears," in CyberLC, a Web page with links to many of the diverse and stimulating lectures, performances, symposia and other events the Library offers free throughout the year.
