SOURCE: Venclova, Tomas. “Making It.” New Republic 204, no. 18 (6 May 1991): 33-37.

In the following review, Venclova dismisses Yevtushenko as a Russian writer of merit, refuting Western interpretations of his poetry and politics.

An interesting article by Yevgeny Yevtushenko, part essay, part memoir, recently appeared in Literaturnaya Gazeta in Moscow, in which the poet dwells at length on his skirmishes with Soviet reactionaries. The title of the article is “Fencing with a Pile of Dung,” which is meant to be a bold metaphor. Among other tales, Yevtushenko tells the story of his visit to the pre-perestroika Kremlin, where he was to be honored with the Order of the Red Banner:

The Order was presented by a vice chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, an Azerbaijani whose last name I cannot, for the life of me, recall. Pinning the order to the lapel of my jacket and inviting me...