Konstantin Vanshenkin

Vanshenkin, Konstantin Iakovlevich 

Born Dec. 17, 1925, in Moscow. Soviet Russian writer. Member of the CPSU since 1953.

Vanshenkin fought in the Great Patriotic War. He graduated from the M. Gorky Institute of Literature in 1953. He is the author of collections of poems, including Song About Sentries (1951), Lyrical Poems (1953), Spring, (1955), Inscription on a Book (1960), The Windows (1962), The Turns of the Light (1965), and Experience (1968). The main motifs of Vanshenkin’s lyric poetry are reminiscences and reflections about the past war, love of nature, and man’s responsibility to his time. Vanshenkin deals with these themes in his prose works as well, such as in the novella The Great Fires (1964) and the collection of short stories Army Youths (1964). He published a book Slow-witted Lika: About Poetry and Poetic Taste (1966). Vanshenkin is the author of songs, including I Love You, Life (music by E. Kolmanovskii) and Seeing the Ships Off (music by A. Ostrovskii). He has been awarded the Order of the Badge of Honor and various medals.

WORKS

Izbrannoe. Moscow, 1963.
Stikhotvoreniia. Moscow, 1966.
Proza. Moscow, 1969.

REFERENCES

Mikhailov, Al. “Vysokaia sluzhba stikha.” Druzhba narodov, 1964, no. 2.
Lukonin, M. “Prostye slova poezii.” Literaturnaia gazeta, Mar. 15, 1966.
Leonovich, V. “Chuvstvo zhizni.” Znamia, 1968, no. 10.
Volgin, I. “My vyshli iz voiny” (a literary portrait). Literaturnaia gazeta, July 1, 1970.

V. A. KALASHNIKOV