Viktor Krivulin Biography

Viktor Krivulin spent the most of his life in Leningrad/Saint-Petersburg. He graduated in philology from Leningrad University but opted for independent cultural activity and worked mostly as a watchman, editor of short living leaflets of sanitary education etc. while heading at the same time some important institutions of Russian uncensored literature of 1970-ies, like '37' and 'Severnaya Pochta' (The Northern Post) samizdat magazines. In 1978 he became the first winner of Andrei Bely literary prize and then for more than ten years participated in running this award. Krivulin's first poetry collection was published in 1981 in Paris and was followed with the two volumes of selected poems appeared ther in 1988; his first book in his country was published in 1990. During the last decade of his life Krivulin was very active as publicist and social activist.