Yevgenii Yevtushenko: The Last Soviet Poet in the Post-Soviet Afterlife

Yevtushenko outlived the Soviet Union by over 25 years, yet obituary writers called him ‘the last Soviet poet’ whose death in 2017 represented the end of an era. While Yevtushenko was still alive, some dismissed him as completely irrelevant in post-1991 Russia. There are now signs of a reassessment of his work and significance. This chapter, drawing on memoirs, articles, and comments from online readers’ forums, considers how Yevtushenko has been seen during the period in question, both by literary professionals and by a wider reading public. Those who remember his career as a Soviet writer hold conflicting views: for some he embodies nostalgic memories of their youth, while others see him as an opportunistic author of mediocre poetry. Literary professionals tend to share a distaste for his perceived careerism, and are particularly drawn to the subject of the prickly relationship between Yevtushenko and Joseph Brodsky, embracing the latter as a superior poet and more worthy human being. Since Yevtushenko’s death in 2017 their evaluations have become more generous. While the reading public still echoes Soviet-era criticisms of Yevtushenko, younger readers with little or no memory of life in the Soviet Union are more open-minded in their responses to Yevtushenko’s poetry.