I read a Swedish translation, with the title “Bekännelser av ett sovjetseklets barn” (“Confessions of a Child of the Soviet Century”) from 1963.
It is fascinating to read Yevtushenko’s reminiscing and anecdoting in this slim volume intended for Western readers. He was a poet in a country and time where poetry was taken very seriously, which is impressive to be reminded of. He describes important turning points in his development and in his life as a poet, along with meetings with Boris Pasternak and Semyon Kirsanov. He maintains his reverence for the simple man, and argues about the hypocrisy found in the hearts of most men. One gets the feeling that it is a quite pure-hearted human being who wrote these lines. A powerful section of the book describes the writing and first recital of his famous poem Babiy Yar, about a brutal pogrom outside Kiev in 1941. Yevtushenko lived for over half a century after this memoir was written, spending his most latterly years in the US, teaching at a college in Oklahoma. Reading this inspired me to read more Russian and Soviet autobiographies, like those of Kropotkin and Gorky.
Kinship of all Species 